China is wild card in US-Canada split over Northwest Passage

[Nan Yang]

China is wild card in US-Canada split over Northwest Passage

Forget the South China Sea. Another freedom of navigation flap is brewing, this time involving the fabled Northwest Passage linking Europe and Asia. It's a potentially ugly spat on the Arctic doorsteps of the US and Canada - and China is poised to become a major player.

Canada claims it has the sovereign right to regulate traffic through the Northwest Passage, while the US claims it's an international waterway.

Huebert is an associate professor and research fellow at the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. He believes the US legally defines the Northwest Passage as an international waterway in order to stay consistent on other policy fronts: this is the position it has taken on the Strait of Hormuz vs. Iran and in the South China Sea vs. China.

Enter China. Beijing may play a major role in backing Canada's sovereignty claim vs. the US.


Lajeunesse noted in a September 14 World Policy blog that one weakness of the Canadian claim is that, under law, Canada must demonstrate that its historic claim has the support of foreign states.

This is where China comes in. "The Chinese don't have to issue a press release saying that they recognize Canada's sovereignty claims," Lajeunesse told Asia Times. "When they begin using the Northwest Passage and they do so by following Canadian law and regulations, that activity will represent foreign acceptance of Canadian sovereignty."

More....
http://www.atimes.com/article/china-wild-card-us-canada-split-northwest-passage/

 

[nang2]

Of course, China won't do it without any return from Canada.

 

[TaiShang]

China is wild card in US-Canada split over Northwest Passage

Forget the South China Sea. Another freedom of navigation flap is brewing, this time involving the fabled Northwest Passage linking Europe and Asia. It's a potentially ugly spat on the Arctic doorsteps of the US and Canada - and China is poised to become a major player.

Canada claims it has the sovereign right to regulate traffic through the Northwest Passage, while the US claims it's an international waterway.

Huebert is an associate professor and research fellow at the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. He believes the US legally defines the Northwest Passage as an international waterway in order to stay consistent on other policy fronts: this is the position it has taken on the Strait of Hormuz vs. Iran and in the South China Sea vs. China.

Enter China. Beijing may play a major role in backing Canada's sovereignty claim vs. the US.


Lajeunesse noted in a September 14 World Policy blog that one weakness of the Canadian claim is that, under law, Canada must demonstrate that its historic claim has the support of foreign states.

This is where China comes in. "The Chinese don't have to issue a press release saying that they recognize Canada's sovereignty claims," Lajeunesse told Asia Times. "When they begin using the Northwest Passage and they do so by following Canadian law and regulations, that activity will represent foreign acceptance of Canadian sovereignty."

More....
http://www.atimes.com/article/china-wild-card-us-canada-split-northwest-passage/

Quite interesting, I know China utilized northwest passage multiple times since 2011.Northeast ppassage, I have no data on this. The problem is, northest route is still very much unreliable. Besides, Canada cannot provide quality icebreaker support.

This thread may be transferred to Arctic-Antarctic thread for a lengthy exchange of ideas. @ahojunk

This is definitely an interesting perspective that involves sovereignty, geopolitics and trade.

For China, looked from present conditions, recognizing Canada's sovereignty and, in the future, perhaps signing deals indicating such recognition can be used both as a political and economic leverage against the US.

I really liked this.

 

[Jlaw]

The bloody yankees want to claim all of Canada's arctic regarding seaways. Even allies like Canada are boss around by US.

 

[xunzi]

We have to be very careful in approaching this. Long term wise, for the free operation of the navy and chinese commercial, more international water is better.