The Arctic and Antarctic, the polar regions, are stirring up the ambitions of major powers. This is particularly evident with Donald Trump, who even expressed his intention to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
A true frenzy has gripped the major powers— the United States, China, and Russia— over the control of these icy lands. The Arctic around the North Pole, as well as the Antarctic in the South, have become two new theaters for the empire’s power struggles.
First, for the regions of the North Pole, there is the prospect of a new maritime route enabled by the melting ice. This would allow bypassing the Suez Canal to link Asia to Europe, saving up to 10 days of navigation and the corresponding fuel savings. As a result, all bordering countries, particularly Russia and the United States with Alaska and Canada, are eager to secure their access to these future routes. Russia, for instance, has reopened many Soviet military bases. It also boasts a significant fleet of icebreakers, and even China is highly active in the region.
However, China is not a bordering country at all. True, it is more than 1,000 miles from the pole, but that doesn’t stop it. China has a project it calls the « Polar Silk Roads, » for which it is, as usual, ready to distribute credits. It has also developed its own icebreakers. It benefits, of course, from its alliance with Russia since the Ukraine war. And above all, Beijing has been courting Greenland for years. And this is exactly what the Americans fear.
What exactly are they afraid of? That the Chinese might seize control of Greenland’s treasures after gaining a foothold in Russian Arctic territories. Greenland, you see, is a strategic location, primarily for military surveillance. But it also holds vast mineral wealth, including rare earth elements used in batteries and electronics. There are 17 billion barrels of oil and tens of billions of cubic meters of gas. To give you an idea, a few years ago, the Chinese managed to buy three airports from the Greenlandic government, but the American military ultimately thwarted the deal.
Source: rtl
