By Joel Gehrke
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/author/joel-gehrke
China's military and economic ambitions are growing in Europe and the Arctic, where the rising communist power may be trying to gain control over important shipping lanes or seaports, according to a top U.S. admiral and Western analysts.
“They're building the first nuclear icebreaker,” The Arctic Institute founder Malte Humpert said. “That’s going to be the test platform to build nuclear aircraft carriers. It’s all linked together … the Arctic is becoming a geopolitical space.”
Such activities have caught the attention of U.S. diplomats and military leaders, who warn that Chinese Communist officials aspire to project military power in the region.
“With China having its own precedent for making bogus claims over international waterways in the South China Sea, it's possible that China will also seek to bend the rules in their favor in the Arctic,” said Adm. James Foggo, commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa and Joint Forces Command Naples, during a recent webinar hosted by the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Most analysts doubt that China would try to claim territorial sovereignty in the Arctic, as it has in the South China Sea, yet that’s not the only way to gain operational control over key territories.
“I just don't think China is really at that spot yet in the Arctic to make territorial claims, but they're certainly trying to make other claims,” the Heritage Foundation’s Luke Coffey said, referring to China’s attempt to gain influence at the Arctic Council.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/china-aims-to-control-ports-and-shipping-lanes-in-europe-and-the-arctic