The Making of the Finnish Polar Silk Road: Status in Spring 2019

Chen, Julie Yu-Wen

doi:10.1007/978-981-15-3133-0_9

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…Chinese state-owned companies and funds can be ordered to develop unprofitable Arctic projects, which in the long term, could allow China to become a prominent player within the region and thus legitimize China's Arctic presence (see Brady, 2017;Almén & Hsiung, 2022). Among the most notorious projects have been the planned "Arctic corridor"-a railroad connection from the port town of Kirkenes in Norway to Helsinki, and from Helsinki through an undersea "Tallsinki tunnel" to Tallinn, and further towards European markets (Chen, 2020;Jüris, 2019). That said, both projects are on hold for the foreseeable future.…”

Section: Economic Armmentioning

confidence: 99%

China’s Arctic Strategy – a Comprehensive Approach in Times of Great Power Rivalry

Puranen,

Kopra

2023

Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies

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There are growing signs that great power rivalry is making a comeback in the Arctic region, and China, a self-proclaimed "near-Arctic state," has shown growing interest in expanding its activity in it. This article investigates China's Arctic intentions in the context of the recently emerging notion of "total national security" in the country, and suggests that individual aspects of China's Arctic strategy -including its Arctic military strategy -should not be analyzed on their own but should, rather, be seen as a manifestation of China's rather unique total security conception in a regional context. Drawing insights from original, official, Chinese-language sources, discussions on China's Arctic strategy among Chinese security experts and academic communities, and by observing recent Chinese economic, political, and scientific activities in the Arctic, the article demonstrates that China's Arctic strategy follows what we describe as a "comprehensive approach" consisting of four main arms: political, economic, scientific, and military. This strategy is designed to advance the party-state's influence in the Arctic through simultaneously moulding discourses and challenging legal concepts of the Arctic (political), boosting its economic interests in the Arctic (economic), fusing civil-military scientific and technological innovation (scientific), and preparing for a military presence in the Arctic (military). Finally, the article concludes that as the significance of the Arctic for China's long-term security strategy is guided by Xi Jinping's thought on total national security, future analyses of China's Arctic intentions should pay particular attention to this evolving concept.

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Section: Economic Armmentioning

confidence: 99%

China’s Arctic Strategy – a Comprehensive Approach in Times of Great Power Rivalry

Puranen,

Kopra

2023

Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies

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“…Without the lead of Hungarian government actors, local companies are simply too small and too uninformed on the BRI to have actual interest in taking part in any BRI projects. This is also evidenced in Finland, where the so-called Polar Silk Road is in the making and might cover the construction of a tunnel between Helsinki in Finland and Tallinn in Estonia as well as an Arctic railway that would connect Rovaniemi in Finland and Kirkenes in Norway (Chen 2020). Plans for these infrastructure projects were under heated debate in both Finland and Norway long before the BRI even came into being.…”

Section: Legacy and Continuitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The term `Arctic corridor´ in Finnish is Jäämeren käytävä, which is thought to have been coined over 100 years ago and literally means `Finland's connection to the Arctic Ocean´. Since 2009, local entrepreneurs and authorities have made further efforts to elaborate on the idea and discuss how to realize the construction of a railway (Chen 2020). These all took place before the BRI was born.…”

Section: Legacy and Continuitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Thoughts on appropriate approaches to studying BRI’s actual impacts and limits

Chen¹

2020

China’s Belt and Road Initiative

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This contribution problematizes the concept that the Chinese state is the most important, if not the only, variable in explaining the success of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects. The fact that China opens its arms to any interested parties in joining the BRI does not tell us anything about China's exact impact in targeted states. The domestic structure approach that has been developed by some political scientists to analyze transnational advocacy networks or interest group politics can be useful for analyzing the BRI's influence. In addition, a constructivist approach provides some insights into this matter. Framing and justifying the BRI as relevant to a recipient state's infrastructure or developmental projects demands substantial effort. The concept of the BRI has to match norms and identities in the recipient state. These framing processes are as important as the actual negotiations between the Chinese investors and local stakeholders. This chapter proposes several hypotheses derived from the aforementioned theories and tests them with empirical examples drawn from Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and even countries that are not on the traditional routes where China's "Belt" and "Road" will pass, such as Finland.

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Glocalization of Belt and Road Initiatives: The Importance of Local Agency

Chen

2023

The Palgrave Handbook of Globalization With Chinese Characteristics

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The Making of the Finnish Polar Silk Road: Status in Spring 2019

Cited by 6 publications

References 11 publications

China’s Arctic Strategy – a Comprehensive Approach in Times of Great Power Rivalry

China’s Arctic Strategy – a Comprehensive Approach in Times of Great Power Rivalry

Thoughts on appropriate approaches to studying BRI’s actual impacts and limits

Glocalization of Belt and Road Initiatives: The Importance of Local Agency

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