Why China’s polar expedition to the Arctic Ocean has drawn US ire

The United States Coast Guard said it closely tracked Chinese polar expedition vessels transiting the Bering Sea on their way to the Arctic Ocean last week, amid unease over Beijing’s geopolitical ambitions in the region. The US Coast Guard Cutter Munro actively monitored the Chinese research ships Xuelong and Xuelong 2 as they passed northbound through the US exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and extended continental shelf in the Bering Sea towards the Arctic, the US Coast Guard said last Friday. The US Coast Guard also said it was the first time Chinese vessels had transited the waters this year. Countries enjoy sovereignty rights over natural resources and economic activities within their EEZ, which extends up to 200 nautical miles from shore. But they do not possess full sovereignty over the water space. The US Coast Guard said that while foreign vessels were permitted to operate within America’s EEZ and continental shelf in accordance with international law, the US Coast Guard “remains vigilant to ensure their activities comply with established international law”. Conducting marine scientific research in the region would require advance permission from the US and subsequent sharing of the collected information, it added. Mike Bosack, director of the non-profit Parley Policy Initiative, said the growing pace of Chinese research voyages reflected a long-term strategy to build a more durable presence in the Arctic. “It is significant that China is taking concrete actions to send research vessels, as it represents a step towards follow-on work in the area,” he said. Bosack said he expected Beijing to increase the frequency of its survey missions before eventually establishing a more lasting presence as opportunities in the region expanded. Tensions in the Arctic region, especially near the Bering Strait that separates Asia and the US, have been running high as China and Russia conduct more joint exercises there. The presence of Chinese survey ships has long raised security alarms among the US and other countries. US defence officials increasingly argue that the missions also serve military objectives, especially in the collection of oceanographic data. Beijing has firmly rejected such suggestions. The Joe Biden administration’s 2022 National Strategy for the Arctic Region warned that China was using some civilian scientific engagements to conduct “dual-use research with intelligence or military applications”. The South China Morning Post previously reported on the military implications of similar maritime expeditions by Beijing elsewhere, noting that some observers regard such missions as inherently dual-use because the oceanographic data they collect improves understanding of the underwater environment. Changes in temperature, pressure and salinity alter how sound travels through the ocean, and this information can help submarine crews avoid detection. The Pentagon’s 2024 Arctic Strategy similarly stated that China’s icebreakers “enable [China’s] dual civil-military research efforts in the Arctic”, with successive expeditions having tested capabilities including uncrewed underwater vehicles and polar-capable fixed-wing aircraft. Both the Xuelong and Xuelong 2 are icebreaker vessels that conduct research in polar regions, and this is China’s 16th scientific expedition to the Arctic. China often carries out research in the Arctic in the summer and in Antarctica in the winter. Three research icebreakers – Xuelong, Xuelong 2 and Jidi – set sail from the northeastern Chinese coastal city of Dalian to conduct a mission that would end in October, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources said earlier this month. Another multifunctional research vessel, Tansuo 3, is to join the expedition later. The expedition would centre on global climate change and its impact, the ministry said, conducting surveys in sea ice, hydrology, biology, ecology and the Arctic Ocean’s atmospheric environment. China’s interest in the Arctic has risen steadily over the past three decades as climate change has opened new shipping routes, exposed untapped resources and raised the region’s strategic stakes. Lacking an Arctic coastline, Beijing has used scientific research to anchor its presence in the “High North”, describing itself as a “near-Arctic state” in a 2018 policy white paper. Since 1999, China has periodically dispatched scientific research vessels through the Bering Sea for Arctic research, historically sending only one ship per expedition. In 2025, China sent its largest-ever scientific expedition team, involving four vessels. During that expedition, the US Coast Guard deployed the cutter Healy to shadow, monitor and query the vessels operating off the Alaskan coast and sent an HC-130J Hercules aircraft, it said last year.

Why China’s polar expedition to the Arctic Ocean has drawn US ire

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Transiting the Bering Sea, research ships were closely tracked amid Washington’s concern about Beijing’s long-term strategy in the region

Transiting the Bering Sea, research ships were closely tracked amid Washington’s concern about Beijing’s long-term strategy in the region