China as a Polar Great Power by Anne-Marie Brady

Author:Anne-Marie Brady [Brady, Anne-Marie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2017-06-29T22:00:00+00:00

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Evaluating China as a Polar Power

China claims to be close to reaching the status of a polar great power. To be considered a polar great power, a state must have a significant presence in the polar regions; high levels of polar scientific capacity and scientific research funding; significant polar economic, military, political, and diplomatic capacity; and a high level of participation in international governance relating to the polar regions. Some of the indicators for power in polar affairs are distinctive to the terms in which states may legally operate in the Arctic or Antarctic. In Antarctica, a signatory state to the Antarctic Treaty may only legally engage in science; fishing, tourism, and other non-minerals-related economic activities; exploration; bioprospecting; and governance. Signatory states have the right to operate in any area of the Antarctic continent and ocean and to set up semipermanent camps and permanent research stations there. But in the Arctic – where there are eight sovereign states, international waters, and multiple non-Arctic states that have an interest in the region – the measures of power and rights of access are more complex. States may engage in the Arctic region as members or observers of the multiple governance bodies that manage Arctic affairs; they have the right to set up a scientific program in the Arctic Ocean, they may be able to negotiate further access for their scientists to the region through bilateral arrangements, and their vessels are entitled to innocent passage in international Arctic waters. The citizens of a non-Arctic state may also be active in the region as investors, tourists, or residents. All of these levels of engagement have to be factored into a consideration of whether a state has “power” in Arctic affairs.

China’s polar scientific capacity is a key marker for evaluating China’s capacity as a polar great power. The question of which states have polar power is a topic of great interest to China as it seeks to achieve its national goals and maintain its interests in the polar regions. The China Arctic and Antarctic Administration has sponsored a number of research projects evaluating the relative strengths and interests of various polar states that, when combined with other sources, are useful in assessing China’s own comparative strength.

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