China’s soft power in Arctic

Nowadays “soft power” is the main and important tool for Chinese participation in Arctic affairs, however, until now a total study of this new phenomenon didn’t exist. The article is to conduct a detailed analysis of the feasibility, instruments and mechanisms, representative examples, as well as the effectiveness and prospects of China’s use of “soft power” in the Arctic. Due to a wide range of political, economic, environmental and international factors, China uses “soft-revisional” Arctic policy aimed at realizing national rights and interests, as well as regional sustainable development. The common instruments and mechanisms for its implementation include: defining the national identity as a near-Arctic state, intensifying the polar scientific researches, taking actions in response to global warming, developing interaction with regional and extra-regional countries, using the platforms provided by international organizations. A representative example is the Arctic cooperation between China and the Nordic countries, which has become a “new driving force” for developing China-EU relations. However, the practical сooperation is still at an immature stage. Therefore, it’s necessary to analyze the effectiveness of China’s use of «soft power» in the Arctic, on which experts have given various points of view. The author from the essence of “soft power” explains the reasons causing the incompleteness of the existing estimates, indicates that accomplishing strategy “soft power” and evaluating its effectiveness require patience. China’s use of “soft power” in Arctic affairs would produce “spillover effects” in case of its successful implementation. Firstly, it will cause resonance in the other extra-regional countries, their involvements will affect the Arctic governance paradigm and regional geopolitical system; Secondly, considering the increasing scientific, technological, financial and economic inputs, it seems appropriate for China to develop Arctic policy based on “smart power”.

Keywords

China, Arctic, «soft power», the Nordic countries

Publication date

25.03.2019

Number of characters

17427

Cite

GOST	Sun X. China’s «soft power» in Arctic // Asia and Africa Today – 2019. – Issue 2 C. 53-57 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://asaf-today.ru/S032150750003736-1-1 (circulation date: 24.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S032150750003736-1
MLA	Sun, Xiuwen "China’s «soft power» in Arctic." Asia and Africa Today 2 (2019):53-57. DOI: 10.31857/S032150750003736-1
APA	Sun X. (2019). China’s «soft power» in Arctic. Asia and Africa Today (2), pp.53-57 DOI: 10.31857/S032150750003736-1

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