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United States
OpinionComment
Nong Hong
Nong Hong

Opinion | Despite US unease over China and Russia in the Arctic, there are ways for everyone to be a winner

  • As China deepens Arctic activities and ties with Russia, the US has ramped up both its rhetoric and military spending
  • Given the rich natural resources in the region, finding ways to cooperate is in everyone’s interest

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Nong Hong

US Vice-President Mike Pence, during a visit to Iceland on September 4, warned of his concerns about “Russian aggression” in the Arctic and China’s increasing activities in the region.

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After Secretary of State Mike Pompeo openly challenged China’s and Russia’s Arctic intentions at the May 2019 Arctic Council Meeting in Finland, this was another senior US official who framed the US engagement in the Arctic by targeting Russia and China.

Even before Pompeo, former secretary of state Rex Tillerson had warned that the United States was “late to the game” in the Arctic and needed to start making policy, security, and economic investments in the region or be left on the sidelines. All these mark a dramatic policy shift from the previous US administration, which saw climate change as the clear and present danger to Arctic security and viewed the Arctic as a venue for cooperation and research.

The assumption of this policy shift is consolidated with statements from the US military as well. The United States has always been a reluctant power in the Arctic compared with other littoral states. It has invested very little into its Arctic resources – with no real ports along Alaska’s Arctic waters, little military presence, and insufficient diplomatic engagement.

However, in February, the US government allocated a total of US$675 million in funding for new icebreakers, which American military leaders see as vital in competing in the Arctic with Russia and China. The US Department of Defence, in its new Arctic Strategy, described the Arctic as a potential corridor for “great power competition” and pledged to increase its force posture, contest excessive maritime claims, and work with allies and the US Coast Guard to ensure that the rules-based order in the Arctic persists. US military leaders have emphasised the strategic importance of the Arctic and US military exercises involving the Arctic are slowly increasing.
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