China\u2019s Coast Guard claimed it entered waters of the Arctic Ocean for the first time as part of a joint patrol with Russia \u2013 in the latest sign of enhanced coordination between the two in a region where Beijing has long wished to expand its footprint. <\/p>\n
The statement came a day after the US Coast Guard said it spotted four vessels from the Russian Border Guard and Chinese Coast Guard in the Bering Sea \u2013 the \u201cnorthernmost\u201d location it said it had ever observed the Chinese ships. <\/p>\n
The joint patrol \u201ceffectively expanded the scope of the coast guard\u2019s ocean-going navigation\u201d and tested their ability \u201cto carry out missions in unfamiliar waters,\u201d the China Coast Guard (CCG) said in a post on its official social media account Wednesday. <\/p>\n
The CCG did not release the exact location of the patrol. A banner visible on one of the vessels in accompanying photos read \u201cChina Coast Guard devoting its heart to the Party; demonstrating loyalty in the Arctic Ocean,\u201d referring to China\u2019s ruling Communist Party. <\/p>\n
The Russian government has not officially acknowledged the patrol, which Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said took place \u201ca few days ago.\u201d Russian state media TASS published a report on the patrol, citing the CCG statement. <\/p>\n
The US Coast Guard (USCG) on Monday said it spotted the four vessels from the Russian Border Guard and Chinese Coast Guard \u201ctransiting in formation in a northeast direction\u201d in the Bering Sea, some five miles inside Russia\u2019s Exclusive Economic Zone on Saturday. <\/p>\n
The Bering Sea stretches between Russia and Alaska and is part of the North Pacific Ocean. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait, a narrow passage separating Asia and North America. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis recent activity demonstrates the increased interest in the Arctic by our strategic competitors,\u201d Rear Adm. Megan Dean, commander of the 17th Coast Guard District, said in the USCG statement. <\/p>\n
The US has raised concerns about China\u2019s growing role and coordination with Russia in the strategically and environmentally sensitive Arctic region, as the two countries tighten their security and economic ties more broadly. <\/p>\n
US and Canadian forces in July intercepted Russian and Chinese bombers flying together near Alaska for the first time, while their two navies operated together in international waters off the Alaskan coast in 2022 and 2023, according to the US military. <\/p>\n
Last year, CCG and Russia\u2019s Federal Security Service, which operates its coast guard, agreed to strengthen their \u201cmaritime law enforcement cooperation\u201d and China was invited to observe Russia\u2019s \u201cArctic Patrol-2023\u201d security drills. <\/p>\n
Analysts say the new patrol is part of a broader pattern of collaboration \u2013 and designed to send a message to Washington, whose maritime activities in the South and East China Seas have longed irked Beijing. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe significance of the (China) Coast Guard operating farther north than it has ever done implies (China) is extending its Coast Guard into areas the US has traditionally considered its own domain,\u201d said Carl Schuster, a retired US Navy captain and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command\u2019s Joint Intelligence Center. <\/p>\n
\u201cChina in particular is signaling that the US Coast Guard is not the only one that (can) operate within and near other countries\u2019 Economic Exclusion Zones from their own home waters,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Beijing has for years sought to increase its footprint in the Arctic, declaring itself a \u201cnear Arctic state\u201d and beefing up its icebreaker and research capabilities in the region, where it\u2019s also heavily invested in Russian energy projects. <\/p>\n
Russia, as one of eight Arctic states, has historically been wary of being too welcoming to China in a region key to its own security and military power. <\/p>\n
But observers say Moscow\u2019s increasing reliance on China \u2013 its most important diplomatic and economic partner \u2013 in the wake of its war on Ukraine may be changing that calculus. <\/p>\n
In its first update to its Arctic strategy in five years, the US Department of Defense in July warned that \u201cgrowing cooperation\u201d between Russia and China in the region has the \u201cpotential to alter the Arctic\u2019s stability and threat picture.\u201d <\/p>\n
The recent joint activities, including the July patrol near Alaska, raise questions of whether Russia\u2019s focus on controlling access to the Russian Arctic is \u201cincreasingly overshadowed by economic and political considerations,\u201d said Sophie Arts, a fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the US\u2019s Geostrategy North team. <\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, when it comes to growing Russian willingness to cater to Chinese interests, we have to take into account the location in which these activities are taking place,\u201d she added, pointing to how the strategically peripheral patrol location suggests \u201cRussian concerns about controlling access and maintaining its bastion (of) defense remain a priority.\u201d <\/p>\n
Andreas \u00d8sthagen, a senior researcher at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Norway, expressed skepticism that Chinese vessels had operated in the Arctic Ocean proper. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt still links to the wider Arctic region, even if this is not the Arctic Ocean. Operating off the coast of Alaska or in the Bering Sea at large is part of an ongoing trend where China is asserting its ability to be present in the Arctic, or near the Arctic,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The China Coast Guard is part of the country\u2019s People\u2019s Armed Police, which is under the command of the Central Military Commission \u2013 and it has frequently been at the frontline of China\u2019s efforts to assert its territorial claims in disputed waters in the South China Sea. <\/p>\n
The Philippines, for example, has repeatedly accused the CCG of targeting its fishing and other ships with water canons and other tactics, including in what it described as a \u201cbrutal assault\u201d with bladed weapons on Filipino forces in June. <\/p>\n
In addition to projecting strength, Beijing has a practical interest in expanding its cooperation with Russia and presence in far north waters, where its coast guard could in the future protect its economic interests, experts say. <\/p>\n
In its 2018 Arctic policy, Beijing described its vision for a \u201cPolar Silk Road,\u201d linking Asia to Europe by developing shipping routes like the Northern Sea Route across the Arctic and down to China. That route, now largely navigable only in summer and autumn, is expected to become more commercially viable for global shipping as climate change melts sea ice. <\/p>\n
Transit along the Northern Sea Route during the summer-autumn navigation season is poised to hit record levels of transit cargo by the season\u2019s end, according to data from the Centre for High North Logistics affiliated with Norway\u2019s Nord University. As of September 30, about 95% of the cargo volume along the route went from Russia to China, it said in a recent report. <\/p>\n
The coast guard collaboration \u201crelates to Chinese interests in maritime transportation along at least parts of the Northern Sea Route,\u201d according to \u00d8sthagen. \u201cThe fact that they have initiated these types of operations is yet another step in the ongoing practical cooperation between the two states in an Arctic or near-Arctic context.\u201d <\/p>\n
And when taken alongside other recent joint operations, \u201cthis is all about expanding both the Chinese footprint in this part of the Arctic and China\u2019s abilities to operate this far north,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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