The Arctic region is transforming rapidly from a peripheral region to a global theatre with increasing number of non-Arctic stakeholders. One illustration of this process is the growing presence of China in the Arctic. Beijing released its first official Arctic governmental paper in January 2018. This White Paper was the culmination of a long process, which China undertook over the past decade to demonstrate its growing knowledge of, and commitment to, the Arctic region in order to be accepted as an Arctic player despite its lack of geography north of the Arctic Circle. Thus far, the responses to Beijing’s Arctic strategies have been mixed, and have been viewed differently in various parts of the Arctic region. The seminar examines China’s evolving Arctic policy and the country’s diplomatic, economic and strategic presence in the region, as well as the ramifications in Finland.
The seminar marks the publication of the report China in the Arctic funded by the Government Plan for Analysis, Assessment and Research.
Speakers
Under-secretary of State, External Economic Relations, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Research professor, Director, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
Timo Koivurova is Research Professor and Director of the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland. He has specialized in various aspects of international law applicable in the Arctic and Antarctic region. In 2002, Koivurova’s doctoral dissertation “Environmental impact assessment in the Arctic: a Study of International Legal Norms” was published by Ashgate. Increasingly, his research work addresses the interplay between different levels of environmental law, legal status of indigenous peoples, law of the sea in the Arctic waters, integrated maritime policy in the EU, the role of law in mitigating/adapting to climate change, the function and role of the Arctic Council in view of its future challenges and the possibilities for an Arctic treaty. He has been involved as an expert in several international processes globally and in the Arctic region and has published on the above-mentioned topics extensively.
Researcher, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
Adam Stepien is political scientist working at the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland in Finland. His research interests include Arctic governance and Arctic cooperation, in particular the role of the EU in the Arctic, which is the topic of his ongoing doctoral project. He has been involved in a number of policy advice projects for the European Parliament, the European External Action Service and Finland’s Prime Minister’s Office. He authored articles, book chapters and reports on Arctic Council, Sámi politics, development cooperation with and for indigenous peoples, Arctic economic developments, Nordic Arctic innovation and on the EU Arctic policy. Recently, he has been working on development strategies in Arctic regions and the prospects for innovation, knowledge-based economy and endogenous entrepreneurship promotion in the northernmost part of Europe.
Panelistit
Deputy director, Unit for Eastern Asia and Oceania, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Arto Haapea is Team Leader for East Asia and Deputy Director at the Unit for Eastern Asia and Oceania at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland since August 2017. Prior to this, he worked as Political Counsellor at the EU Delegation to China and Mongolia in Beijing, and as Deputy Consul General in Shanghai. Since joining the Foreign Ministry in 2006, he has also served as adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, at the Finnish Embassy in The Hague, and as Legal Adviser at the Finnish Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. He holds a Masters degree in Law from the University in Helsinki (2004).
Senior research fellow, Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Jyrki Kallio is Senior Research Fellow at the FIIA. Prior to joining the Institute, he worked for fifteen years as a diplomat in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. In 2008–09 he represented Finland in the Arctic Council in the capacity of acting Senior Arctic Official. His research interests include Chinese political culture and foreign policy, and regional issues in East Asia. He has a special interest in the instrumentalization of traditional schools of thought in East Asian politics, and is the editor and translator of Mestari Kongin keskustelut – Kungfutselaisuuden ydinolemus (Gaudeamus). He received his PhD in Chinese Society Studies from the University of Lapland.
Puheenjohtaja
Dr. Mika Aaltola is the Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. He also holds the rank of Docent at Tampere University. He has been a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University, Sciences Po (CERI), and Johns Hopkins, a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota as well as a tenured professor of International Relations and European Union Affairs at Tallinn University (part-time). Aaltola’s areas of expertise include the U.S. global role, dynamics of major power politics, democratic vulnerability, pandemic security, and Finnish foreign policy.
His published peer reviewed monographs include research on Finnish foreign policy (Tampere University Press, 2003), on the cultural foundations of the U.S. foreign and security policy (Brill, 2008), on ethics and humanitarianism as geopolitical practices (2008, Palgrave), on pandemic security (Routledge 2012), on the power politics of U.S. global infrastructure (Palgrave 2014, Routledge 2016, co-authored). His latest published monograph is Democratic Vulnerability and Autocratic Meddling – The ‘Thucydidean Brink’ in Regressive Geopolitical Competition (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2021). He has also published a monograph on Finnish foreign policy after Crimea (Docendo 2019) as well as an edited volume together with Mikael Wigell and Sören Scholvin (Geo-economics and Power Politics in the 21st Century: The Revival of Economic Statecraft, Routledge, 2018).
He defended his doctoral degree at Tampere University in 1999 (“The Rhythm, Exception, and Rule in International Relations: The Case of Mad Cow Disease”), received his MA degree from Tampere University (1994) and BA degree from Columbia University (1992).