United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned China and Russia that the US will not stand for aggressive moves in the Arctic region, which is rapidly opening up to development and commerce as temperatures warm and ice melts, said the South China Morning Post.
During a speech in Finland, Pompeo said that the US will compete for influence in the Arctic and counter attempts to make it the strategic preserve of any one or two nations.
He said the rule of law must prevail for the Arctic to remain peaceful, and he criticized China and Russia for what he said were coercive practices that would destabilize the “High North”.
He added that China’s attempts to inject itself into the region’s affairs by pushing infrastructure projects and commercial investments must be checked. He rejected China’s assertion that it is a “near-Arctic nation.”