Norway’s national broadcasting company (NRK) reported that authorities will require the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to remove two white stone lions and a sign at the entrance of its research lab in the Norwegian Arctic research station, reaffirming Norway’s sovereignty over this geopolitically sensitive area.
According to NRK citing the local newspaper Svalbard Posten, Norwegian authorities aim to make it clear that the town of Ny-Ålesund only has one research station, belonging to Norway, and that Norway is the host to all researchers in Svalbard.
Located in Svalbard, Norway, Ny-Ålesund sits at 79 degrees north latitude, making it the northernmost settlement on Earth. During the desolate Arctic winter, the town is home to only about thirty residents. It houses various Arctic research facilities belonging to different countries, including the “China Arctic Yellow River Station” (Guleelvstasjonen), also known as the “Yellow River Station.”
Other countries, such as India and South Korea, are also affected by this requirement, as their research facilities also feature national or cultural symbols. However, political science professor and China expert Marc Lanteigne from the University of Tromsø (UiT) stated that these symbols are less significant and do not pose a serious issue.
Lanteigne told Newsweek, “Norwegian authorities have long been discontent with the national symbols displayed by China in Ny-Ålesund, especially exaggerated symbols like the stone lions, and this situation has been ongoing for some time.”
Norway holds sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago, managing the region according to the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, which grants certain rights to signatory countries. The treaty was signed by the then-Chinese government (Beiyang government), not the CCP that seized power in 1949. Nonetheless, the CCP has inherited rights in international law.
However, in recent years, the CCP’s economic and military influence in the Arctic region has continued to expand, causing concern among various countries.
The abundant energy reserves in the Arctic region have caught the CCP’s interest. In January 2018, the CCP released its first “Arctic Policy White Paper.” Despite being 1450 kilometers away from the Arctic Circle, the white paper claims that China is a “near-Arctic country” geopolitically, a statement widely questioned.
The CCP’s military presence in the Arctic has also been strengthening. In September last year, a fleet of Chinese and Russian coastguard vessels conducted joint patrols in the Arctic Ocean for the first time.
Additionally, the CCP collaborates with Russia to exploit oil and gas resources in the Arctic region, establish research institutions, regularly dispatch ships to the Arctic for dual-use research, and more.
In July last year, Norway formally lodged a complaint against CCP diplomats when a ship carrying 183 Chinese tourists arrived in Ny-Ålesund. The tourists were wearing red jackets, with some being retired Chinese military personnel, and at least one person was in active-duty CCP uniform. They carried red banners with patriotic slogans and CCP flags, celebrating the CCP’s research anniversary in the area. Norwegian authorities deemed this event highly provocative.
According to NRK, the “Yellow River Station” is merely an office for research, not a CCP research station. However, the two stone lions and the sign hanging at the entrance with “China Arctic Yellow River Station” written in Chinese and English evidently do not respect Norway’s sovereignty.