Analects archive | November 2013

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  • Polar Stakes: China’s Polar Activities as a Benchmark for Intentions (19/07/2012)
    http://www.jamestown.org/programs/chinabrief/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=39647&cHash=ab95416de6afcfd23ac990a0491beab8%23.Unc5j

    China’s central critique of the Antarctica Treaty System (ATS) revolves around the issue of the distribution of resources. Deciding who can control polar resources is a matter of global political and economic importance. As an energy-hungry nation, China is extremely interested in the resources of Antarctica (and the Arctic) and any possibilities for their exploitation. Chinese-language polar social science discussions are dominated by debates about Antarctic resources and how China might gain its share—mostly referring to access to mineral resources. Such discussions are virtually taboo in the scholarly research of more-established Antarctic powers. Nowadays (it was not always the case), scholars in those countries tend to focus on preserving the environmental heritage of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans. In Chinese-language debates, social and hard science scholars, government officials and journalistic commentators all appear to agree that the exploitation of Antarctica is only a matter of time and that China should prepare itself.

    China in the Antarctic | Polar power play
    http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2013/11/china-antarctic

    China is steadily implementing its considerable polar ambitions. Over the past two decades its yearly Antarctic spending has increased from $20m to $55m, some three times the country’s investment in the Arctic. There are many reasons to stake a claim, not least to bolster national pride and global geopolitical clout. The goal of the current five-year polar plan, according to Chen Lianzeng, the deputy head of China’s Arctic and Antarctic administration, is to increase the country’s status and influence, in order to protect its “polar rights”.

    Sovereignty is disputed in the Antarctic, so states assert themselves by building research stations. “You put a huge great flag on a flagpole close to the research station. It is not very subtle,” says Klaus Dodds, a professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway, a part of the University of London. If China builds all five planned stations it will have more than either Britain or Australia, and only one fewer than America. Still, science matters too. It gives states cachet, and influence in matters of joint governance.

    #Chine #Antarctique #énergie #géopolitique