China sees strategic opportunity in US turmoil over Greenland

Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, said China and Russia must be having a “field day” over Donald Trump’s plans for Greenland, which she said will divide Nato. Trump wrote on Truth Social that “China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it.” In Beijing, analysts and officials have framed Trump’s moves as evidence of disorder in the US-led world order and a potential gain for China.

Wang Wen, a professor at Renmin University in Beijing, said many Chinese view the moves as “another manifestation of Trump’s bullying, hegemonic and domineering behaviour,” and added that “Trump’s occupation of Greenland would signify Nato’s demise.” Andrew Small of the European Council on Foreign Relations said Beijing sees the unraveling of US alliances as beneficial.

Beijing’s official line opposes attempts the foreign ministry says undermine the UN charter; spokesperson Guo Jiakun urged the US to stop using the “so-called ‘China threat’” in Greenland as a pretext for imposing tariffs on European countries. China has pursued Arctic interests before: between 2012 and 2017 Chinese foreign direct investment in Greenland amounted to more than 11% of the territory’s GDP, and in 2018 China published an Arctic white paper describing itself as a “near-Arctic state” and proposing a “Polar Silk Road.” Chinese state media said a Chinese container ship’s voyage via the Northern Sea Route to Felixstowe took 20 days.

Key Topics

World, China, Greenland, Donald Trump, Nato, Polar Silk Road