Greenland's Election Vital for Rare Earth

Greenland's election is vital for the rare earth raw materials of the world. According to a report by the Danish Politics newspaper on April 5, due to global climate change, the melting of icebergs in the Arctic and the opening of new transportation routes, as well as the island’s raw materials, such as rare earth. The election not only concerns Denmark but also the world.

The island is very crucial to Denmark. It's about the security policies, trade routes, compromises, and raw materials.

According to the 'Intelligence Risk Assessment' published by the Defense Intelligence Agency military intelligence department in recent years, Denmark's relations with other countries and external threats make the island extremely important to Denmark's national security and strategic interests. Due to the superpower competition between the United States and China and Russia's increasingly erratic aggressive policies towards the West.

For the United States, Greenland has always been a strategic place to defend the North American continent. The Thule base is critical to the U.S. early warning system and preventing long-range missile attacks across the Arctic. In addition, climate warming has made more and more Arctic regions easier to navigate, and it has also allowed Russia to increase its military bases.

For Russia, how to protect the center of gravity of raw materials on which the Russian economy relies is 'from attack', which will increase the demand for military capabilities in the Arctic. At the same time, most of the Russian nuclear missile and submarine-based attack power is located at the base of the Kola Peninsula near Green Island, making Greenland an important place.

China does not have a military presence in the Arctic, but China has great ambitions for the Arctic in terms of transportation, trade, and raw material extraction. This move has aroused American concerns about China's foothold in the American Arctic backyard.

The former President Trump had proposed to buy Greenland. Denmark rejected the proposal. The transportation routes of world trade are getting shorter, the opening of new shipping lanes to northern Canada and northern Alaska and northern Russia needs to be controlled and protected.

The biggest concern is that China's investment in the infrastructure of the 'Arctic Silk Road' will enable it to gain power and influence in the Arctic region. This forced Denmark to jointly invest in the establishment of a new airport on the Island in 2018 to prevent China's interests from intervening.

In addition to safety strategies, transportation routes and airports, climate change has made it easier to extract raw materials such as rare earths in the Arctic. Russia's economy is increasingly dependent on oil and gas extraction in the region. Russia, Canada, and Denmark have proposed territorial sovereignty over the Arctic, and each country has agreed to the United Nations Law of the Sea Commission for territorial ownership. It is expected that the region will undergo fierce negotiations in the next 10 years and will compete on ownership issues and important raw materials.

The mining focuses sited on South of the Island, and currently, nearly 50 different advanced mining projects have obtained exploration licenses. The most important of these is the large rare earth metal deposit owned by the Kvanefjeld mine in southern Greenland. An Australian mining company with significant interests in China is about to obtain a mining license. The strategic goal of the US is to prevent China from continuing to monopolize the rare earth market. To sum up, the election attracts power and global attention.

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