Canada is concerned about the increasing activity of China in the Arctic, which is no longer limited to scientific work, but also allegedly involves intelligence gathering in the region, said the country's Minister of National Defense Bill Blair.
"China approaches [work] in our Arctic in two ways. The first is through economic pressure, investments in critical and other infrastructure in the region. And the second one is through what they call scientific research," the head of the Defense Ministry said.
“We see a significant increase in their presence in the Arctic, and this is not only scientific research. They are mapping the seabed, they are gathering intelligence."
In addition, Blair noted Canada's strong lag behind Russia in the development of the Arctic. "Russia has 17 deep-water ports in this [Arctic] ocean. Canada does not have any, and therefore we need to work better," the minister said.
He also drew attention to the presence of a significant icebreaking fleet in Russia. In this regard, Blair said that next week, Canada will launch the sixth ship of the Arctic class, which is capable of operating in deep ice conditions in the Arctic, tass.ru reports.
Alex Shishlo, Editor in Chief of the European Bureau, Rough&Polished