Abstract
Since the 1990s, a number of Asian countries − primarily Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, and India − have expanded their scientific research activities in the Arctic and revealed their desire to participate in Arctic governance. Global warming has brought about new opportunities for the development of Arctic hydrocarbon and mineral resources and trans-Arctic commercial shipping, which have led to a substantial increase in some Asian countries’ economic interests in the region. This chapter elaborates on interests that are both specific to and shared by all five Asian countries, as well as concerns relating to Arctic commercial development. It demonstrates how Asian countries’ perception of their interests, concerns, and challenges, their companies’ readiness to take commercial risks, and scope of their financial and technological power all influence the depth and intensity of their cooperation with Arctic states in Arctic commercial development. It characterizes the current scope of these five Asian countries’ involvement in the commercial development of the Arctic: in the exploration, extraction, and production of Arctic hydrocarbons and minerals, and in commercial shipping along the Northern Sea Route.
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Leksyutina, Y.V., Zhang, J. (2022). Interests of Non-Arctic Asian States in the Region. In: Pak, E.V., Krivtsov, A.I., Zagrebelnaya, N.S. (eds) The Handbook of the Arctic. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9250-5_6-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9250-5_6-1
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