A Shifting Northeast Asian Security Landscape and China-ROK-Japan Arctic Cooperation

ABSTRACT

The growing competition between Beijing and Washington and the coronavirus pandemic are not only changing the regional landscape but also China-ROK-Japan cooperation in arctic affairs. For the three countries, changes in the Northeast Asian landscape present both opportunities and challenges for trilateral exchange and cooperation. China, South Korea, and Japan all depend on international trade, shipping, and energy for their sustained economic growth. As extra-regional actors with major interests in arctic affairs, China-ROK-Japan share similar policy positions as observers on the Arctic Council. At the same time, the three economic powers also have inescapable competing views and conflicts of interest in the arctic region. Amid a shifting global landscape and the coronavirus pandemic, Northeast Asia is also undergoing profound changes, which requires higher levels of trilateral cooperation in arctic affairs to provide further momentum for maintaining regional stability and harmony. The best policy for China, South Korea, and Japan, three interdependent major economies in a world of growing uncertainty and competition is more coordination and cooperation. The Arctic could be a region where higher levels of Northeast Asian cooperation and integration can set a new paradigm of sub-regional coordination in the service of regional stability and prosperity.