Abstract
China entered the Arctic as part of its “omnidirectional diplomacy” from the late 1990s, branching out and going global, supported by rapid economic growth. As a “near-Arctic state,” China has a strong desire to understand the implications of a changing Arctic, due to its potentially beneficial or harmful effects. China regards itself as deserving a say in Arctic affairs, given its global prominence and rise in economic and political power elsewhere. China’s interest in the Arctic lies mostly in the economic sphere, and China seeks to pursue economic security via energy development projects and new shipping routes. China has not been reticent about marking that the Arctic has a political significance but is also very conscious of how it is seen by other actors.
This chapter is partially based on an article originally published as “The Arctic policy of China and Japan: Multi-layered economic and strategic motivations” in The Polar Journal, 4(1), 105–126. Reprinted with the permission of the publisher.
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Tonami, A. (2016). China’s Arctic Policy. In: Asian Foreign Policy in a Changing Arctic. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53746-1_2
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