China’s membership in the Arctic Council: what does it mean for China?

... states as permanent observers . China, which has demonstrated its willingness to participate in the exploration of the Arctic region more actively than the rest over the recent years, occupies a special position among them. Norway has the last word Norway’s stance on admitting China to the Arctic Council remained a matter of intrigue until virtually the last moment. This was due to the “cooling” of bilateral relations in the recent past, provoked by the Nobel Peace Prize Award [1] to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in early October ...