China interested by the Arctic ?

People’s Daily online indicates on March 3, 2010: “… China is preparing for the Arctic being navigable during summer months. An ice-free Arctic would provide China shorter shipping routes, possible access to natural resources and the incentive for closer cooperation with Arctic nations, especially the Nordic countries. But it also raises the possibility of new international tensions, said Linda Jakobson in her new SIPRI study which was issued in Oslo recently. The report, entitled ‘China prepares for an ice-free Arctic’, is based on groundbreaking findings by a Western researcher on China’s evolving approach to the Arctic, said a press release from SIPRI. The author, SIPRI’s Beijing-based Linda Jakobson, has assessed China’s Arctic interests in shortened trade routes to European and North American markets, and possible access to untapped natural resources to fuel China’s economy…. Read the overall article here >> “