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The Carney government is leaving Inuit communities at risk of Chinese surveillance and economic dependence and isn’t facing up to the threat China poses to the North, critics say.
“Inuit communities are central to the challenge. Yet they are often not provided with the resources, information or technical support needed to fully assess these complex Chinese investment proposals,” said Elizabeth Donkervoort, director of the China Strategic Risks Institute think tank.
“We need to make sure that Inuit and Indigenous communities are genuine partners in addressing these issues,” she [said].
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Donkervoort’s group released a report earlier this month arguing that Ottawa must help Inuit resist Beijing’s attempts to extend its influence across the Canadian Arctic.
The report says those attempts could take the form of Chinese investment in mining projects, offers of collaboration with Chinese polar research vessels and financial support for badly needed infrastructure, such as transportation links and broadband internet.
“These infrastructure investment offers from China can appear attractive because they’re addressing real community needs,” Donkervoort said.
She said this pattern could have “the cumulative effect of an incremental strategy that builds access relationships and influence in the Arctic over time,” bringing with it threats to the environment and to local autonomy.
Donkervoort compared China’s Arctic outreach to its Belt and Road development plan, which has left some smaller nations indebted to Beijing or subject to its political coercion.
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The group has urged intelligence officials to share more detailed information about security risks in the Arctic.
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“The Investment Canada Act does not adequately capture unsolicited or subnational foreign infrastructure offers, particularly those directed at Indigenous or territorial governments,” he said.
“Fragmented federal co-ordination has left openings for exploitation, and they must be closed immediately.”
Majumdar noted that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, in testimony on Feb. 12 to the House foreign affairs committee, flagged China as “a primary threat” to Canada’s Arctic sovereignty.
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At a conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, senior Canadian diplomat Weldon Epp said Global Affairs Canada is trying to work with Indigenous communities to give them more of a role in shaping and executing Canadian diplomacy.
Epp, who oversees Canada’s diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific, told the conference held by the Japanese embassy and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute that Canada has “made down payments” on that work.
“We’re continuing to make investments within government and beyond on (China) expertise. This includes deep engagement — which was overdue — with Indigenous rights-holders,” he said.
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[Conservative MP Shuvaloy] Majumdar said he worries that Ottawa is appeasing China due to “a fundamental misunderstanding of the threat to the Canadian strategic interest.”
“Beijing is not waiting for Canada to catch up. Its polar research vessels, deep sea monitoring systems and state-directed Arctic strategy are already operational,” he said.
“While Liberals debate frameworks and timelines, the (Chinese Communist Party) in Beijing is moving quietly, deliberately and with strategic intent.”
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China has for years called itself a “near-Arctic state,” despite the fact that its borders are nearly 1,500 kilometres distant from the Arctic Circle.
Analysts have reported a shift away from that phrasing in recent years. Jennifer Spence, director of the Arctic Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, noted in January that China has shifted to research after underwhelming efforts to expand trade in the Arctic — efforts that included working with Russia to develop shipping lanes.
Donkervoort said if Canada prioritizes “economic investment over everything,” it risks losing sovereignty over Canadian territory.
“China promotes the idea that the Arctic should be treated as a global commons, where non-Arctic states have equal rights of access and extraction that directly challenges (the) Canadian long-standing position that waters such as the Northwest Passage fall under Canadian jurisdiction,” she said.
Washington has long shared China’s position on the Northwest Passage and argues it is an international strait.
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