Abstract
China’s rising great power status will shape the contemporary international order and generate transformation in international practices including in Arctic governance. This chapter investigates China’s emerging great power status and its implications for the Global Arctic, focusing in particular on China’s climate policies. The chapter asks whether and to what extent China’s Arctic engagement is motivated by climate change mitigation.
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Notes
- 1.
Jin (2011, 251) has distinguished four identities for China, all of which all are currently in flux. First, China’s identity as the largest developing country is being challenged by its economic miracle. Second, China’s identity as a regional power is no longer very accurate, as contemporary China has wide global interests and influence. Third, China’s identity as a socialist country is being eroded by its capitalist market system and consumerism. Fourth, China’s identity as a Confucian civilization is being lost in modernization and market economy.
- 2.
In the Chinese context, the concept of “face” is often used to describe human concerns over honor and respect. It explains why national image-building plays such an important role in Chinese foreign policy. The Chinese government seeks to maintain face because it means “maintaining authority” and the state’s national honor; losing face would mean “losing status and the ability to pursue instrumental goals” (Gries 2004, 29). In China, others can also “give face” to a person or social group.
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Kopra, S. (2019). Climate Change and China’s Rise to Great Power Status: Implications for the Global Arctic. In: Finger, M., Heininen, L. (eds) The GlobalArctic Handbook. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91995-9_8
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