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The Arctic issue continues to heat up over the past years, causing
more attention from Arctic countries and concerns from non-Arctic
countries. This paper intends to provide some perspectives on the
value of the Arctic region, related international laws and
cooperation mechanisms, Arctic countries polar strategy and
Chinas stance on the Arctic.
I
The Arctic has abundant resources and important values in
scientific research, transportation and military affairs. The Arctic
countries attach increasing importance to the Arctic development.
1. The Arctic is rich in energy, mineral and biological
resources.
In 2009, United States Geological Survey estimated that
potential undiscovered oil and natural gas reserves in the Arctic
accounted for 13% and 30% of respective world potential reserves,
with 80% of them located offshore. According to statistics, current
oil and gas production in the Arctic accounts for 10% and 25%
respectively of the global output. The Arctic minerals include gold,
copper, iron, lead, platinum, nickel, zinc, diamonds, etc. The coal
reserve in the Arctic accounts for 9% of the world total. The Arctic
region has abundant cod fish, snappers, salmons and Arctic
shrimps, making the region one of the major biological protein
bank in the world. The climate change has caused the fish to move
northward from traditional fishing grounds in Alaska and the North
Sea, and the Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea and other waters in the
region will become new and major fishing grounds.
2. The scientific research in the Arctic is of importance to
the understanding of the Earth.
The Arctic shows the fastest response to the global climate
change. The climate warming over the past 30 years has shrunk
one fourth of the Arctic sea ice in summer time, and reduced the
winter ice caps and permanent ice caps by half. Changes in Arctic
atmosphere, oceans, land, ecology and society exert important
impacts on the climate as well as the economic and social
development in the Northern hemisphere and in the world. The icemelting in Arctic will raise the sea level, and the shrinking sea ice
will reduce the refraction of the sun, and the thinner ice cap will
II
There is a basic international legal regime for the Arctic region.
However, the coastal states in the Arctic have quite a few disputes
concerning attribution of some Arctic waters.
1. There is no integrated system of international law for
the Arctic, however, a basic legal framework is provided by
international laws including a series of conventions for
dealing with Arctic issues.
(1) Documents of regional international laws and regional
cooperation system, such as the Protection of Polar Bears
Agreement concluded by five Arctic countries, the non-legal
binding Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy adopted by the
Environment Council of Ministers of the Arctic, and the Arctic
Council the regional sustainable development mechanism.
(2) International environmental convention suitable to the Arctic.
Since the Arctic region is mostly affected by climate change,
reduced ozone layer and persistent organic pollutants (POPS) and
other global environmental problems, the Arctic countries have
played an important role in the making of the most of the
international environmental conventions.
(3) The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS) and international legal documents by the International
Maritime Organization, including directions for vessels sailing in
polar icy waters adopted especially for Arctic navigation
conditions. The UNCLOS relates to all aspects of maritime
delimitation, marine environmental protection, navigation and
III
On Arctic affairs, the Arctic countries are cooperative and
competitive to each other while taking acceptable as well as
cautious attitudes to non-Arctic countries participation.
The Arctic countries attach great importance to the Arctic
affairs, and they have formulated, one after another, their Arctic
strategies and policies. They emphasize regional cooperation, and
in particular the cooperation in Arctic scientific research,
environmental protection and sustainable development, which are
coordinated by the Arctic Council. For instance, eight Arctic
countries reached the Arctic Air and Sea Search and Rescue
Cooperation Agreement in the Arctic Council ministerial meeting in
2011; decided to set up a permanent secretariat of the Council in
Tromso, north of Norway; and is formulating Arctic oil spill response
agreement. It can be seen that the cooperation mechanism among
the Council members is strengthened and their sense for further
cooperation is increased. However, due to different situation and
position, there are also different emphases in their respective
Arctic strategies.
The United States introduced its new Arctic policy in January
2009. It prioritizes the assurance of navigation freedom, makes the
prevention of terrorist attacks against the Arctic and the reduction
of terrorist crimes and hostility in Arctic as the homeland security
interests, plans to build missile defense and early warning systems
in the Arctic, tries to resolve disputes concerning boundary
delimitation and define the Americas continental shelf, continues
its leading role in the Arctic scientific research and ensures the
balance between the Arctic development and environmental
protection.
Russia published its Arctic principle, policy and long-term
program in 2008 and introduced the Arctic strategy in 2010. Both
of them took the establishment of Russias competitive advantage
in Arctic energy development and shipping as its Arctic strategic
focus. At the same time, Russia strengthened infrastructure
construction along the Northern Sea Route and its jurisdiction in
order to control firmly its dominance over the Route, and
announced the formation of the Arctic military force to safeguard
the security of its Arctic area. Russia plans to have the outer limit
of its continental shelf to be defined before 2015 so as to lay the
foundation for the Arctic development.
In 2010 Canada issued the Arctic foreign policy statement.
Among the four priority policies, to exercise Canadas sovereignty
over its Northern area is the number one and non-negotiable
IV
The Arctic cooperation mechanism is getting mature; the Arctic
Council is the most important regional intergovernmental forum.
The Arctic cooperation in various fields has started following the
end of the Cold War. The cooperation began in the field of scientific
research and environmental protection and expanded rapidly to
the field of sustainable development. Of late, energy development,
the use of navigation routes and other issues are put on the
agenda for cooperation.
At present, there are many regional intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and sub-regional
mechanisms which are devoted to Arctic scientific research and
sustainable development and cooperation. Established in 1990, the
International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) is the most
influential organization for scientific research cooperation, with the
aim of encouraging and supporting Arctic scientific research by
providing scientific advices and funds. In addition, the Arctic
Scientific Committee, founded in 1984, and the Ny-Alesund Science
Managers Committee, founded in 1994, is also important Arctic
research organizations. The Arctic Council was established in 1996
and is the most important regional intergovernmental forum for
discussions on Arctic environment and sustainable development.
For the same reason, if in the future the Arctic routes are
navigable, this will add another dimension of cooperation between
China and the Arctic countries. Because the voyage from America
and Europe to Asia will be greatly shortened, the European and
North American countries will certainly make good use of the Arctic
routes to conduct their trade with Asia, and this will also be the
case for China and other Asian countries. The voyage from
Rotterdam to Shanghai via the Northern Sea Route will be 22%
shorter than the one via the Suez Canal. The voyage from the
north tip of Norway to Lianyungang Port in China via the Northern
Sea Route is 6,500 nautical miles long while the one via Suez Canal
is 12,180 miles. To navigate the Northern Sea Route is fuel-saving
and cost-efficient and brings benefits to all parties. Of course, all
the countries must comply with related guidelines and regulations
for Arctic navigation.
In short, either in trade and investment of energy resource, or in
the use of Arctic routes, the international law, the regulations on
trade and investment and guidelines for Arctic navigation must be
abided by.
3. China wishes to become observer in the Arctic Council
to have close cooperation with both Arctic and non-Arctic
states and make its contribution to the peace, stability,
environmental protection and sustainable development in
the Arctic.
The Arctic Council is the most influential regional intergovernmental forum on Arctic issues. Of late, cooperation on Arctic
affairs is both deepening and broadening, and becomes more and
more institutionalized. It is now a mainstream in Arctic affairs. The
Arctic issues are mainly regional issues, but there are also transregional issues like climate change, shipping and others which
require strengthened cooperation at both regional and
international levels. China has the right to engage in Arctic
scientific research and navigation and has the willingness and
capability to contribute to the work of the Arctic Council. This has
been generally recognized by the Council members. China is
willing to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation on Arctic
issues with the countries concerned.
The Arctic Council takes an open attitude to non-Arctic states
and relevant international organizations. The Arctic Council should
make an early decision on accepting new observers. It will help
establish a cooperation mode between the Arctic and the nonArctic countries in which they work together and jointly solve
cross-regional problems through positive interactions.