Framing the "Polar Silk Road" (冰上丝绸之路): Critical geopolitics, Chinese scholars and the (Re)Positionings of China's Arctic interests. (April 2020)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Framing the "Polar Silk Road" (冰上丝绸之路): Critical geopolitics, Chinese scholars and the (Re)Positionings of China's Arctic interests. (April 2020)
- Main Title:
- Framing the "Polar Silk Road" (冰上丝绸之路): Critical geopolitics, Chinese scholars and the (Re)Positionings of China's Arctic interests
- Authors:
- Woon, Chih Yuan
- Abstract:
- Abstract: China's release of a White Paper to document its Arctic Policy in 2018 has attracted widespread academic and popular commentaries. In particular, Beijing's ambition to build a "Polar Silk Road" (冰上丝绸之路) in the Arctic so as to link Asia and Europe via logistic and transportation networks have garnered intense 'external' speculations about whether China is using the initiative to gain geopolitical power and domination in the region. This paper however focuses on the under-researched dimension of how the idea of the Polar Silk Road is understood, debated and portrayed in the Chinese scholarly community. Specifically, by hinging on the conceptual and methodological tenets offered by framing theory, I seek to critically examine the representational themes and tropes that are mobilized by Chinese scholars in their discussions of the Polar Silk Road amidst China's increasing forays into the Arctic. Indeed, I argue that Chinese academic discourses about the Polar Silk Road evoke positive frames broaching a diversity of concerns (economic, environmental, diplomatic and so on) to not only justify but also defend China's ongoing interests and interventions in the Arctic region. By engaging in this study, this paper responds to critical geopolitics' call to pay nuanced attention to under-represented 'non-Western' geopolitical ideas, philosophies and traditions. Moreover, given the claim that the academic and foreign policy realms in China are intertwined in intimate andAbstract: China's release of a White Paper to document its Arctic Policy in 2018 has attracted widespread academic and popular commentaries. In particular, Beijing's ambition to build a "Polar Silk Road" (冰上丝绸之路) in the Arctic so as to link Asia and Europe via logistic and transportation networks have garnered intense 'external' speculations about whether China is using the initiative to gain geopolitical power and domination in the region. This paper however focuses on the under-researched dimension of how the idea of the Polar Silk Road is understood, debated and portrayed in the Chinese scholarly community. Specifically, by hinging on the conceptual and methodological tenets offered by framing theory, I seek to critically examine the representational themes and tropes that are mobilized by Chinese scholars in their discussions of the Polar Silk Road amidst China's increasing forays into the Arctic. Indeed, I argue that Chinese academic discourses about the Polar Silk Road evoke positive frames broaching a diversity of concerns (economic, environmental, diplomatic and so on) to not only justify but also defend China's ongoing interests and interventions in the Arctic region. By engaging in this study, this paper responds to critical geopolitics' call to pay nuanced attention to under-represented 'non-Western' geopolitical ideas, philosophies and traditions. Moreover, given the claim that the academic and foreign policy realms in China are intertwined in intimate and complex ways, the viewpoints of Chinese scholars thus becomes critical and relevant to understand insofar as they help to signal to the possible future developmental trajectories of China's approach in the Arctic (and beyond). … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Political geography. Volume 78(2020)
- Journal:
- Political geography
- Issue:
- Volume 78(2020)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 78, Issue 2020 (2020)
- Year:
- 2020
- Volume:
- 78
- Issue:
- 2020
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2020-0078-2020-0000
- Page Start:
- Page End:
- Publication Date:
- 2020-04
- Subjects:
- Political geography -- Periodicals
Géographie politique -- Périodiques
320.12 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09626298 ↗
http://www.elsevier.com/journals ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1016/j.polgeo.2019.102141 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0962-6298
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 6543.885950
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 13378.xml