China has started paying attention to the strategic implications of the melting of Arctic ice and could seek a more active role in regulating use of the region, a new report said yesterday.
The findings of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's paper indicate that the Arctic could emerge as another area in which China starts defining global strategic interests, following investments in Africa and moves to build a presence in the Indian Ocean.
SIPRI said the prospect of the Arctic being navigable during summer months had driven Beijing to allocate more funds for polar research, and scholars were pushing the government to develop an Arctic strategy.