China hopes to settle Arctic disputes by ‘peaceful means’

Canada a ‘natural partner,’ ambassador says

China hopes to solve “by peaceful means” any disputes with Canada concerning the Arctic, China’s ambassador to Canada told a Montreal audience Wednesday.

Canada is to take over the chair of the Arctic Council in 2013, a body on which China wants observer status.

After a luncheon speech on ChinaCanada relations at which he said Canada and China are “natural partners” that should increase the array of goods they trade, Ambassador Zhang Junsai was asked about China’s views on the Arctic and whether his mandate includes convincing Ottawa to allow China that position.

“I don’t have the talking points on this,” Zhang said, a comment that drew chuckles from members of the Conseil des Relations Internationales de Montreal crowd.

Zhang then responded to the question raised by an audience member, a specialist in Arctic and northern security issues.

“We hope that this will be solved by peaceful means,” Zhang said.

“I don’t know much about this, but we would like to participate and be (an) observer. We hope that the countries (on the council) would support China’s request.”

In addition to observer status, China hopes to join Canada to form an Arctic scientific research team, he said.

Media attending the sold-out event could not ask Zhang to expand on his remarks. His office had cancelled a scheduled news conference, citing time pressures.

Stephane Roussel, the Universite du Quebec a Montreal professor who had posed the Arctic question said he was surprised by Zhang’s use of the phrase “peaceful means” twice in his short response.

The vision of the Arctic as a “potential battlefield” is changing, Roussel, the Canada Research Chair in Canadian Foreign and Defence Policy, said.

“Some people are still talking in terms of (something akin to an) arms race, in terms of competitions among states.

“But more and more, there is a consensus that, ‘we will settle this at the Arctic Council’ and there is nothing that cannot be solved by diplomatic means,” he said.

Among the contentious Arctic issues still to be settled are those related to ownership of the seabeds, Roussel said.

China’s growing interest in the Arctic has been on the radar of China watchers for several years, as it established Arctic research stations and, most recently, announced plans to build another icebreaker.

The Arctic Council is comprised of northern aboriginals and the eight nations that ring the North Pole.

The question about inclusion of non-arctic states, such as China, is a controversial one for the body, whose member states are Canada, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the United States.

Meanwhile in his remarks to the business audience, the ambassador noted China and Canada have no “fundamental conflicts of interest, only substantial convergence of interests.”

China is now Canada’s No. 2 trading partner behind the United States and Canada’s interest in increasing bilateral trade has increased, Zhang noted.

“Canada should export much more to China other than wood, pulp, mineral resources,” he said, citing hightech goods as being of interest to China’s growing consumer class.

For its part, China “after industrial upgrading” is ready to provide Canada high-value industrial products, he said.

State-owned Chinese oil and gas companies already have invested billions of dollars in Alberta’s oilsands.

And the Harper government wants to increase petroleum exports to China, but those hopes are linked to the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project currently under review by the National Energy Board.

Overall bilateral trade with China has tripled since 2001, totalling nearly $58 billion in 2010.