Strategic partnership setting for Sino-Russian cooperation in Arctic shipping

Abstract

This article analyses the cooperation policies between China and Russia in the development of shipping in the Russian Arctic. This process is analysed as a part of a comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction, able to significantly affect the development of the Global Arctic. It is necessary to study the principals and opportunities of this partnership format which allows for mitigating discrepancies in the national interests of the two states. Via comparison of the Chinese ‘Ice Silk Road’ initiative and Russian plans for the development of the Northern Sea Route, this piece evaluates convergence/contradiction in national interests and willingness/unwillingness to compromise. With a key example of mitigating legal discrepancies, the author discusses the matter of the status-quo of the two states in the Arctic. Sino-Russian interaction should be viewed as a process, whereby success depends on the ability of the two governments to alter their behaviour, while considering the benefits of compromise. In turn, compromises are feasible to the extent that the harmony of national interests of the PRC and the Russian Federation in the Arctic is achievable.