Why Greenland is Really About China - by Nadia Schadlow
Icebergs floating at the mouth of the Ilulissat Icefjord loom behind the town center on July 30, 2019 in Ilulissat, Greenland. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
President Trump raised eyebrows and set off a few alarms when he recently expressed interest in purchasing Greenland. But the real story underlying this interest is that China has long understood the relationship between commercial infrastructure projects and global power, and it has weaponized many of its commercial relationships. Washington has yet to develop a strategy to counter Beijing. President Trump reportedly became concerned when he learned about the extent of Chinese investments in this strategic island, which lies at a critical juncture in the North Atlantic, contains rare earth mineral deposits, and is home to a United States Air Force base that is central to American homeland defense architecture.
China has recognized the importance of Greenland since at least 2015, when its state enterprises began to invest in mining companies there. China has invested in at least four key mining operations in Greenland, adding to its dominant position in the rare earth element market. Rare earth elements have unique properties essential to high technology products. They are vital in critical defense applications like fighter jet engines, missile guidance systems, as well as satellite communications systems, not to mention mobile phone and electric car motors. While the United States could once rely on its own resources for rare earth minerals, it is now almost fully dependent on imports, mainly from China.
Chinese rare earth investments are just one example, close to American shores, of the broader Belt and Road Initiative announced in 2013. This trillion dollar effort is a sophisticated land and sea strategy designed to use physical projects such as railroads, ports, and mines to the advantage of Chinese business and military interests. These physical lodgments in turn will generate political advantages. The provision of loans, capital, equipment, and technical expertise shapes local politics and creates dependencies. The data generated from these projects adds “fuel†to Chinese artificial Intelligence objectives, since such technology requires large amounts of new data to refine its capabilities and applications such as facial recognition, which allows for greater social control.
Read more at: https://www.hudson.org/research/15277-why-greenland-is-really-about-china
More from the Hudson Institute posted days ago:
Interventionism vs. Isolationism: A Conversation with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (Hudson Institute)http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,374648.msg2049751.html#newhttps://www.hudson.org/events/1716-interventionism-vs-isolationism-a-conversation-with-u-s-sen-ted-cruz92019So, I don't know my way around all of these "think tanks" but some of it is good.
