SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE The Dragon Spits Fire on Ice: The Arctic and Antarctica Within China's New Silk Road O Dragão Lança Fogo no Gelo: o Ártico e a Antártida no Quadro da Nova Rota da Seda Chinesa El Dragón Lanza Fuego en el Hielo: El Arco y la Antártida Bajo la Nueva Ruta de la Seda Chino PAULO DUARTE1 ABSTRACT RESUMO RESUMEN This paper aims to contribute to incre- Este artigo visa contribuir para aumen- Este artículo tiene como objetivo ayudar ase knowledge about the importance of tar o conhecimento sobre a importância a crear conciencia de la importancia del North and South Poles within China’s do Polo Norte e Polo Sul no quadro da Polo Norte y del Polo Sur como parte de New Silk Road. The central argument is Nova Rota da Seda marítima da China. la Nueva Ruta de la Seda marítima de that there are several logistic and econo- O principal argumento reside no facto de China. El argumento principal es que mic issues which explain Beijing’s inte- que existem vários interesses logísticos e hay varios intereses logísticos y econó- rests in these two regions, less studied in económicos, que explicam o interesse de micos que explican el interés de Beijing comparison to other areas where China’s Pequim nestas duas regiões, menos estu- en estas dos regiones, menos estudia- New Silk Road is more active. The quali- dadas em comparação com outras áreas dos en comparación con otras zonas en tative method, through the hermeneutic onde a Nova Rota a Seda chinesa é mais las que la nueva ruta de la seda china analysis, is the methodology supporting ativa. O método qualitativo, através da es más activa. El método cualitativo, a this investigation. We argue here that análise hermenêutica, é a metodologia través del análisis hermenéutico es la the Chinese maritime New Silk Road em que assenta a presente investigação. metodología que subyace a esta investi- does not, and should not, have necessa- Acreditamos que a Nova Rota da Seda gación. Creemos que la Nueva Ruta de la rily to be confined to the Atlantic, Indian marítima chinesa não tem, nem deve, Seda marítima china no hay, y no debe, or Pacific Oceans. No matter how impor- necessariamente confinar-se ao Atlân- necesariamente limitarse al Atlántico, tant these may be, China can and must tico, Índico ou Pacífico. Por muito im- Índico y Pacífico. Por importantes que continue to try to build a polar New Silk portantes que estes sejam, a China pode sean, China puede y debe continuar rea- Road, also serving as a steersman to e deve continuar a esforçar-se por edi- lizando esfuerzos para construir también other powers that also look for various ficar, também, uma Nova Rota da Seda un polar nueva ruta de la Seda, incluyen- opportunities in the melting of the ice. polar, servindo inclusive de timoneiro a do servir como guía a otros poderes que However, in any case, the crossing of outras potências que procuram igual- también buscan diversas oportunidades the Arctic must fully replace the con- mente oportunidades várias no derreti- en el deshielo. Por importante que sean, ventional sea routes, which, along with mento do gelo. Contudo, em caso algum China puede y debe continuar realizan- the polar routes, must be understood, a travessia do Ártico deve susbstituir-se do esfuerzos para construir también una by now, and at most, in a perspective of integralmente às rotas marítimas con- nueva Ruta de la Seda polar, serviendo complementarity. vencionais, as quais, juntamente com as como un guía a otros países que también rotas polares, devem ser entendidas, por buscan oportunidades en la el deshielo. Keywords: China. Arctic. Antarctica. ora, e quanto muito, numa perspetiva de Sin embargo, en caso de que el cruce del New Silk Road. complementaridade. Ártico debe sustituir totalmente las rutas marítimas convencionales, que junto con Palavras-chave: China. Ártico. Antártida. las rutas polares, deben entenderse, por Nova Rota da Seda. el momento, y en el mejor, una perspec- tiva complementaria. Palabras clave: China. Ártico. Antártida. Nueva Ruta de la Seda. 1 Université Catholique de Louvain - Belgium E-mail: <[email protected]> Doctors student in International Relations - Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) Researcher of the Instituto do Oriente (Lisbon, Portugal) Coleç. Meira Mattos, Rio de Janeiro, v. 9, n. 35, p. 471-483, maio/ago. 2015 471 THE DRAGON SPITS FIRE ON ICE: THE ARCTIC AND ANTARCTICA WITHIN CHINA'S NEW SILK ROAD 1 INTRODUCTION and the South Pole, where China progresses subtly and gradually, through the construction of scientific stations Throughout this article we will analyse the and revolutionising the toponymy of the region. We argue contours of the Chinese presence in the North Pole and that the Chinese maritime New Silk Road does not, and the South Pole. Harsh continents, and the least known should not, have necessarily to be confined to the Atlantic, of all by man and by science, the Arctic and Antarctica Indian or Pacific, no matter how important these may be. are not, for now, Beijing’s priority target. However, as a China is undeniably a polar power, being that the coming result of climate change that has caused the melting of the years will continue to confirm the continuity and even ice and the consequent possibility of seasonal transit by expansion of Chinese dynamism in the two ‘last’ and a significantly shorter sea route between East and West, inhospitable continents where science and man will be the Arctic, thus, seems to serve the logistical and strategic able to harmoniously cooperate and revolutionise. That ambitions of the Chinese New Silk Road. In addition, the being said, we believe that the asset of this article lies North Pole has been gradually regaining a geopolitical precisely in showing another facet, less known, of a polar and geo-economic importance – after the long years of maritime New Silk Road, with all that is surprising, benign the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United or dangerous resulting to China and, in a broad sense, to States – in a current context in which Humankind needs, humanity, if science, and the States’ energy and economic more than ever, to securitise its access to energy, mineral ambitions want to impose themselves on ecology by and food resources. putting an end to the sanctuarisation of the Poles. Although the South Pole does not provide, in Convinced that the behaviour of the states, the turn, any shortening of distances to the Chinese maritime power or influence are not likely to translate into tangible New Silk Road, China has been actively engaged in scientific realities, mathematical formulas, or mere statistics, we research in this region which, like the North Pole, seems assume, from this point, that the use of the qualitative to hold extraordinary energy, mineral and food reserves. method, through the hermeneutic analysis, is, certainly, The next years will be promising in that they will enable the methodology supporting the present investigation. us to realise whether the ecological imperatives – present In this sense, it is imperative to penetrate the sphere of in the careful safeguarding of polar ecosystems, while subjectivity, i.e. the understanding of causality inherent in ‘untouchable’ heritage of Humankind – will tend, or the action of the various actors, that reaches us through not, to sag vis-à-vis the ‘temptation’ to explore their so the analysis of a whole panoply of scientific articles, precious resources. 2007 was a particularly symbolic, monographs, theses, among other available sources and simultaneously strange, year, since History seemed regarding the subject of this study, in order to try to to retreat to medieval times, when a 21st century understand what drives China to act in this or that way. Russia associated a nationalistic pride to a titanium flag immediately placed in the depths of the Arctic. Either a 2 THE RATIONALE: ENERGY SECURI- sign, or not, of the times that lie ahead, the International Community is right when it feels alarmed if this is the TISATION AND THE MARITIME NEW beginning of the end of the Poles ‘sanctuarization’, as a SILK ROAD sign of affirmation of pragmatism and realism, the struggle for survival and for resources, in a world where the (new) The race to the Poles cannot be dissociated balance of power is unstable, and where the superpower is from the context that rules today’s Chinese foreign no longer potent to contain the ambitions of the emerging policy, namely the importance of energy supply and the ones. emergence of the maritime New Silk Road concept. We will start by making a brief contextualisation Starting with the energy security issue, this can of logic and levers underlying the Chinese incursions in the be considered, according to Nayoon Lee, "a question of, North Pole and South Pole. As such, we can only allude to at the same time, international and national security" (LEE, the subjects of energy securitisation and of the Chinese 2012, p. 1). As Waco Worley suggests, "a country should maritime New Silk Road, without which we would hardly have, permanently, access to energy resources, taking a understand the reason for China’s interest in the Polar minimal risk that these are exhausted" (WORLEY, 2006, p. Regions. After all, this article shares the postulate that the 2). So, that leads many States to try to better exploit their melting of the ice may create new and promising economic, domestic energy reserves. However, these are not always commercial, scientific, logistic and even political horizons enough to provide the energy needs of a country, which (since the continuity of the Communist Party in power will represents, of course, a source of insecurity for itself.