POLICY ADVISORY

Competition and Cooperation: The Interests of China and Russia in the Arctic Region (10 November 2020, Estonian Foreign Policy Institute)

China, Japan, and South Korea may look as if they have different agendas in the Arctic. Aki Tonami, an associate professor at the University of Tsukuba, however, explained that the three countries share the broader sense of security, which includes energy (transport of oil, Arctic LNG transport routes), climate change and food in the Arctic. China, Japan and South Korea have maintained a complex dance of competition and cooperation among themselves - and this dance continues in the Arctic.

The Nordic countries are concerned by the prospect of becoming backyard of great powers. According to Tonami, Japan can offer alliance to hedge.