The Arctic as a “Strategic” and “Important” Chinese Foreign Policy Interest: Exploring the Role of Labels and Hierarchies in China’s Arctic Discourses
Research confirms that China is becoming more engaged in the Arctic. However, international relations scholarship often extrapolates from relatively few instances of activity to wide-ranging claims about Chinese priorities. Fortunately, Chinese political discourse is organised by labels that allow u...
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crsagepubl:10.1177/18681026211018699 2024-09-09T19:17:52+00:00 The Arctic as a “Strategic” and “Important” Chinese Foreign Policy Interest: Exploring the Role of Labels and Hierarchies in China’s Arctic Discourses Andersson, Patrik Innovationsfonden Fonden Erik Hoffmeyers Rejselegat 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/18681026211018699 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/18681026211018699 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/18681026211018699 en eng SAGE Publications https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Current Chinese Affairs page 186810262110186 ISSN 1868-1026 1868-4874 journal-article 2021 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/18681026211018699 2024-08-27T04:24:00Z Research confirms that China is becoming more engaged in the Arctic. However, international relations scholarship often extrapolates from relatively few instances of activity to wide-ranging claims about Chinese priorities. Fortunately, Chinese political discourse is organised by labels that allow us to study how the Arctic is classified and ranked along China’s other foreign policy priorities. This article analyses two such classifications – “important maritime interest” and “strategic new frontier,” exploring how they have come about, what they mean, and how they add political priority to the Arctic. It argues that hierarchies are constructed in two ways: by adding gradients and by including/excluding in categories of priority. It views categories as performative: they not only convey information about character and relative importance of interests but are also used for achieving different objectives. By focusing on foreign policy classifications, the article contributes to a more nuanced and precise understanding of China’s Arctic interests. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic SAGE Publications Arctic Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 186810262110186 |
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SAGE Publications |
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crsagepubl |
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English |
description |
Research confirms that China is becoming more engaged in the Arctic. However, international relations scholarship often extrapolates from relatively few instances of activity to wide-ranging claims about Chinese priorities. Fortunately, Chinese political discourse is organised by labels that allow us to study how the Arctic is classified and ranked along China’s other foreign policy priorities. This article analyses two such classifications – “important maritime interest” and “strategic new frontier,” exploring how they have come about, what they mean, and how they add political priority to the Arctic. It argues that hierarchies are constructed in two ways: by adding gradients and by including/excluding in categories of priority. It views categories as performative: they not only convey information about character and relative importance of interests but are also used for achieving different objectives. By focusing on foreign policy classifications, the article contributes to a more nuanced and precise understanding of China’s Arctic interests. |
author2 |
Innovationsfonden Fonden Erik Hoffmeyers Rejselegat |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andersson, Patrik |
spellingShingle |
Andersson, Patrik The Arctic as a “Strategic” and “Important” Chinese Foreign Policy Interest: Exploring the Role of Labels and Hierarchies in China’s Arctic Discourses |
author_facet |
Andersson, Patrik |
author_sort |
Andersson, Patrik |
title |
The Arctic as a “Strategic” and “Important” Chinese Foreign Policy Interest: Exploring the Role of Labels and Hierarchies in China’s Arctic Discourses |
title_short |
The Arctic as a “Strategic” and “Important” Chinese Foreign Policy Interest: Exploring the Role of Labels and Hierarchies in China’s Arctic Discourses |
title_full |
The Arctic as a “Strategic” and “Important” Chinese Foreign Policy Interest: Exploring the Role of Labels and Hierarchies in China’s Arctic Discourses |
title_fullStr |
The Arctic as a “Strategic” and “Important” Chinese Foreign Policy Interest: Exploring the Role of Labels and Hierarchies in China’s Arctic Discourses |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Arctic as a “Strategic” and “Important” Chinese Foreign Policy Interest: Exploring the Role of Labels and Hierarchies in China’s Arctic Discourses |
title_sort |
arctic as a “strategic” and “important” chinese foreign policy interest: exploring the role of labels and hierarchies in china’s arctic discourses |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/18681026211018699 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/18681026211018699 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/18681026211018699 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Journal of Current Chinese Affairs page 186810262110186 ISSN 1868-1026 1868-4874 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/18681026211018699 |
container_title |
Journal of Current Chinese Affairs |
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186810262110186 |
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1809757954099904512 |