China slams 'Cold War mentality' after new EU Arctic plan

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China slams 'Cold War mentality' after new EU Arctic plan

Beijing (AFP) – China opposed on Thursday "using Cold War mentality" to stoke conflict over the Arctic, after the European Union linked Beijing's cooperation with Russia in the region to security concerns.

The EU unveiled on Tuesday a push to boost Arctic surveillance and expand icebreaker fleets, alluding to China's growing "strategic ambitions... as it deepens its partnership with Russia".

Europe, China, Russia and the United States are jostling for influence in the polar region that is seen as an important trade route.

This summer, a Chinese shipowner began a weekly container service through the Arctic on an express route to Europe, prompting concerns over vessels warming polar ice.

Beijing and Moscow agreed this week to "expand cooperation" in Arctic shipping, including increasing the number of routes between Russian and Chinese ports, according to a joint communique released after a meeting between their prime ministers.

Asked about the new EU strategy and calls from foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to bolster the bloc's defences in the Arctic, China denounced what it called a "Cold War mentality".

"China's activities in the Arctic are aimed at promoting the Arctic's peaceful, stable and sustainable development, and are in accordance with international law," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said during a regular news conference.

"Using Cold War mentality to create factions and incite geopolitical confrontation is not conducive to the peaceful and stable development of the Arctic region," she said, without naming the EU specifically.

https://www.rfi.fr/en/international-news/20261022-china-slams-cold-war-mentality-after-new-eu-arctic-planOpen link View original on sh.itjust.works

Comments2

2 replies

DaddleDew

lemmy.world

That's precious from them after they declared they were a "near Arctic" country and claimed control over it.

They've also been mapping the Arctic sea floor on obvious preparation for military submarine operations.

Hotznplotzn

lemmy.sdf.org

China is one of the world's largest bullies, supposedly the largest of all. Such an accusation from China is almost comical.

Edit:

China 'will take advantage' of Russia to gain foothold in High North - (October 19, 2026 - link to removepaywall.com)

China will take advantage of Russia’s dependence on it to gain a foothold in the Arctic, the head of Sweden’s military intelligence service told The Times.

Historically, Russia has seen the Arctic as its own backyard and has been reluctant to let China establish a presence. However, this appears to be changing as the cost of the war in Ukraine and western sanctions have taken their toll on the Russian economy, leaving Moscow increasingly in hock to Beijing.

Thomas Nilsson, the head of the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service, known as Must, said Russia had become dependent on China to sustain its war effort with the sale of oil and gas, while also leaning on its ally for supplies of war materiel and dual-use goods such as microchips [...]

Nilsson said this presented China, which declared itself a “near-Arctic” state in 2018, with an opportunity to force Russia’s hand and move its position forward in the region [...]

“They [China] are building their icebreaker fleets. They are building their larger strategic submarines. I don’t think the icebreakers will go [around] the Philippines,” he said [...]

The region also potentially has huge untapped resources of critical raw materials that China, Russia, the US and other powers are eyeing up. Nilsson said Russia and China had been training militarily around the Bering Strait between Kamchatka and Alaska, including common patrol flights with bombers and operations at sea with shared ships.

Although there has been no sign of any such activity in the European or American sectors of the Arctic so far, Nilsson is concerned that it may move closer to Europe. “Absolutely. It can move further towards our part of the Arctic,” he said.