Norway may shut China out of the Arctic Council

A diplomatic incident between Oslo and Beijing two years ago has unexpectedly turned into a scandal related to China’s application to be a permanent observer on the Arctic Council, Norway’s newspaper, the Aftenposten, reports. Norway says it will continue objecting China’s membership in the Arctic Council until Beijing agrees to resume diplomatic contacts with Oslo. China’s relations with Norway have been chilly since October 2010, when Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel peace prize. This decision of the Nobel committee caused protests in Beijing, although the two countries had enjoyed successful partnership before, says Pavel Prokhorov, editor for the Russkaya Norwegiya (Russian Norway) web portal.     “Before the Nobel peace prize was awarded, China and Norway had been actively developing their bilateral ties. Among other things, the sides planned to sign a free trade agreement to set unprecedentedly low import duties. By the way, Norway enjoyed more privileges than any other country of the EU. Things changed after the scandal broke out, with China believing that the Nobel committee is not an independent body and observes the interest of Norway’s foreign policy.” Traditionally, Norway’s position on applications from other nations to join the Arctic Council was positive. And its intention to veto China`s membership bid is rather an exception, says Robert Hube, deputy head of the center for military and strategic studies at the Universityof Calgary. He believes that China and Norway should try and find a compromise solution to their conflict Scientists say that the Arctic region has over 25% of the world`s undiscovered oil and gas reserves. With its limited energy resources at home, China, of course, in very interested in having access to the Arctic, says Alexander Khramchikhin, an expert at the Institute of Political and Military Analysis. “If China`s growth remains at the present level, they won`t be satisfied even having access to all existing energy resources. And it would be very difficult to deter China. This is the main problem, and nobody knows how to deal with it. China is not an Arctic state and has not right to access its territory.” A report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says that China might be pursuing its geopolitical interests in the Arctic. But is China is the only country willing to do it? The latest conflict between Oslo and Beijing shows that the Arctic has become a new Klondike.