China's Arctic Ambitions and What They Mean for Canada

• Main Authors: Lackenbauer, P. Whitney, Lajeunesse, Adam, Manicom, James, Lasserre, Frédéric
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: University of Calgary Press 2018
• Subjects: Régimen jurídico internacional; Aguas árticas; Rutas marítimas; Soberanía > Transporte Marítimo; Arctic; Canada; Northwest Passage; Soberanía; árticas; Northern Sea Route; Northwest passage
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12010/16969; https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/106384 https://prism.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/handle/1880/106384/9781552389027_chapter03.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y; https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/34634

It is a curious irony that, for the better part of four centuries, British explorers plied the waters of the North American Arctic seeking a northwest passage to China yet in the twenty-first century, as the polar ice recedes, Canadians seem concerned that China may soon use the Northwest Passage as a route to Europe and the eastern United States. This chapter explores Chinese shipping interests in the region, and places concerns about them in the context of the international legal regime that governs the Arctic waters, Chinese foreign policy interests, and the relative viability of different prospective sea routes. Contrary to many of the fears expressed in recent years about the threat Chinese shipping may pose to Canada, we find that neither the viability of the Northwest Passage nor the alleged threat to Canadian sovereignty live up to their hype. In the short to medium term, China is much more likely to pursue whatever Arctic shipping interests it has through Russia’s Northern Sea Route (NSR), which is better supported and more easily navigable.