China Granted Access to Arctic Club as Resource Race Heats Up
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China was granted observer status by the Arctic Council, giving the world’s second-largest economy more influence amid an intensifying search for resources in the globe’s most northern region.
The eight-member council at a summit today in Kiruna, Sweden, also granted observer status to Japan, India, Italy, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea. The European Union application was deferred until members are satisfied that issues of concern -- largely Canadian objections about EU restrictions on seal products -- have been allayed.