The Pentagon warned Monday against increased cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic as climate change opens the region to increased competition for shipping routes and resources.
“We have seen increasing cooperation between China and Russia in the Arctic on the commercial side, with China being a major financier of Russian energy development in the Arctic,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks told reporters.
Military cooperation is also growing, with “Russia and China conducting joint exercises off the coast of Alaska,” she said, presenting the Pentagon’s Arctic strategy through 2024.
“All of these challenges have been amplified because the effects of climate change are causing rapidly warming temperatures and thinning ice cover, which is driving all of this activity,” she said.
For the United States, the Arctic is a strategic region, including because of the presence of “significant American defense infrastructure.”
In recent years, Russia has strengthened its military presence in the Arctic by reopening and modernizing several bases and airfields abandoned since the end of the Soviet era, while China has poured funds into polar exploration and research.
Asked about the Pentagon’s statements, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning defended Beijing’s Arctic policy on Tuesday, stressing that it was based on “respect, cooperation, mutual benefit and sustainability.”
China “is committed to maintaining peace and stability in the Arctic,” she stressed during a regular press briefing.
“The United States distorts China’s Arctic policy and makes irresponsible remarks about China’s normal and law-compliant activities in the Arctic.”
Rapid melting of polar ice in the Arctic is boosting economic activity in the inhospitable region as countries seek to discover viable new oil, gas and mineral deposits, as well as new shipping routes.
“The Arctic could experience its first virtually ice-free summer by 2030” and this “will increase the viability of Arctic shipping routes and access to undersea resources,” the Pentagon said.