Ships from China and Russia patrol in Arctic waters

Cooperation between Beijing and Moscow expands

A squadron of Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ships arrived in the Arctic Ocean during the National Day holidays for joint patrols with the Russian Coast Guard. This is the first time that CCG vessels have entered the Arctic Ocean.

Their first appearance in the Arctic Ocean has significantly extended the CCG's range. It has also allowed the ships to test their ability to carry out missions in unfamiliar sea areas, and has strengthened their participation in international and regional maritime surveillance, the CCG said in a statement^[1].

21 September Chinese and Russian coastguard vessels began joint patrols in the North Pacific Ocean.

The coastguards carried out law enforcement checks on fishing vessels operating in the region in accordance with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/215 and the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the North Pacific Ocean, Xinhua reported.

The operation was aimed at maintaining order on the high seas. During the mission, the vessels also conducted joint search and rescue, damage control, and illegal vessel location exercises, demonstrating the strong cooperative capabilities of the two Coast Guard forces.

The West seeks to counterbalance Russian and Chinese activities in the Arctic

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly told Bloomberg that Canada and the Nordic countries are seeking to create an association to counterbalance Russian and Chinese activities in the Arctic^[2].

Last weekend, Joly met her counterparts from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden in Iqaluit, Canada. The head of Canada's foreign ministry told the newspaper that the ministers agreed to explore ways to establish a dialogue on enhancing Arctic security or create a new forum to discuss defense issues.

These discussions need to focus on foreign investment in the Arctic and on dual-use research by a potential adversary, the minister added.

Canada has long felt protected by its geography, Jolly said. "But now we have to take into account that we are a country that stands face-to-face with Russia, and because of climate change, more and more countries, including China, are showing interest in the Arctic," she stressed, and Ottawa has to take into account this "new reality".

Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States are members of the Arctic Council, the intergovernmental organization of Arctic states.

At the beginning of March 2022, all Arctic Council countries except Russia issued a statement refusing to participate in meetings chaired by Moscow. In June, they announced their intention to resume work in the Council on a limited basis on projects in which Russia is not involved.

At the end of September, Russia's ambassador in Ottawa, Oleg Stepanov, said there was still some cooperation between Russia and Canada in the Arctic Council working groups. However, the diplomat said, communication is affected by the fact that most countries participating in the Council have become members of NATO. All Arctic Council member states, except Russia, are military alliance members. Sweden was the last to join in March, before Finland became a bloc member.

The Russian authorities have pointed to the negative consequences of NATO enlargement for national security. After Finland joined the bloc, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree restoring the Leningrad and Moscow military districts. Moscow attributed the countermeasures to the need to stop threats.

Belarusians reassure the world: only economic goals

The United States and its allies are escalating the situation along the perimeter of Russia's borders, testing its defense capabilities. Washington has set a course for militarization of the Arctic and northern latitudes. NATO has said it plans to set up an air operations center in the Arctic, and Belarusian military expert Alexander Tikhansky has assessed the situation in the north^[3]. 

He noted that attempts by some Western countries to interpret Russian-Chinese cooperation in the Arctic as a threat and a new front in the great power rivalry show an attempt to give a newsworthy reason for the militarization of the Arctic by the United States and NATO countries.

As recently as 2020, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo actively criticized Russia and China, accusing them of expansionist, aggressive policies in the region.

However, it would be a mistake to say that Russia and China's Arctic strategies are completely aligned. China insists on a global role for the Arctic as a heritage for all humanity, which is at odds with Russia's position on the exclusivity of the northern states' rights to the Arctic territories.

Nevertheless, Moscow and Beijing do not accentuate these differences and avoid clashes in practical politics. Moreover, China and Russia increasingly cooperate in the Arctic based on a pragmatic convergence of interests.

It must be borne in mind that, in this case, each country is acting based on its own interests, which are completely at odds. Creating a military alliance between Russia and China is not seen as expedient. In the Arctic, Sino-Russian cooperation is purely economic. There is no reason to believe that the interaction between the two powers in the Arctic will take a military direction shortly.