【By Observer Net, Zhang Jingjuan】 "China is the main beneficiary of Trump's Arctic antics." On February 2, Isaac Kardon, a senior researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote an article in the Financial Times titled "China Is the Main Beneficiary of Trump's Arctic Spectacle," stating that while the Trump administration waved the tariff baton recklessly and distanced itself from allies, China is filling the strategic vacuum left by the US, becoming the most solid long-term beneficiary behind this farce.

The article stated that from abducting the leader of Venezuela to threatening to occupy the territory of NATO allies, and then threatening to suppress Canada, Trump has committed a series of unexpected mistakes in the Western Hemisphere, opening the door for China to expand its influence.

Kardon said that although some people hope that Trump's short-lived style will not cause excessive concern, this radical shift in the US defense policy in the Western Hemisphere should be highly alert. Even if Trump later revoked the tariff threats against European allies and claimed to have reached an agreement on Greenland, it could not reverse the overall situation developing in favor of China.

"The world is facing a broken post-war international order, and as a relatively stable and reliable global power, China is naturally filling the gap. At present, China only needs to sit back and watch its rivals make avoidable strategic mistakes," Kardon said.

The author believes that Trump's chaotic strategy is creating opportunities for China. On one hand, the US has deployed its core naval forces to the Caribbean and the Middle East, allowing China to wait for the right moment, integrate its resources, and prepare for potential conflicts in the future, while seizing every opportunity to break what the US calls the "encirclement and containment" of China.

On the other hand, Trump's impulsive actions such as imposing tariffs and threatening invasion have actually enhanced China's interests. China had no reason to engage in military confrontation with the US in the Western Hemisphere, nor did it have a naval or military presence near Greenland, yet it could easily play its cards in the US "backyard," with almost all of its moves being economic ones.

The article states that China is conducting large-scale business in Latin America, extracting and importing key minerals such as oil, natural gas, lithium, and copper. Even if Venezuela's oil production were to recover as imagined, it would still be difficult to match the industrial scale China has already established in Latin America.

On January 17, 2026, local residents in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, held a protest against the recent continuous threats by the US to "take over" Greenland, calling for the right to decide their own future. IC photo

Notably, Trump has long coveted Greenland, claiming that the US has the need to "take over" Greenland, using the excuse of the "Chinese threat" in the Arctic. In fact, as a neighboring country geographically close to the Arctic, China has always followed the principles of international law and scientific cooperation in its activities in the Arctic. This year, China successfully pioneered a new mode of "ship-submersible collaboration" in densely icy areas, making China the only country in the world currently conducting continuous manned deep dives in the dense sea ice area of the Arctic.

Chinese research teams also successfully collected a batch of precious water, sediment, rock, and biological samples, obtaining a large amount of observational data, which will provide important scientific support for in-depth study of the rapid climate change in the Arctic.

The spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry previously clearly stated that China is an important stakeholder in Arctic affairs, and has always participated in Arctic affairs following the basic principles of respect, cooperation, win-win, and sustainable development, strengthening cooperation with all parties, maintaining peace and stability in the Arctic, and promoting sustainable development in the Arctic.

Now, the UK and Canada are gradually moving closer to China. The UK Prime Minister Starmer visited China last week, during which he repeatedly emphasized the important position of China in the global economic system, and clearly stated that the UK wants to maintain constructive engagement with China. British media has evaluated this visit as "a milestone." Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau has also reached an agreement with China, allowing the import of 49,000 electric vehicles from China with preferential tariff rates.

Kardon wrote in the article, "In the same way as Greenland's situation, Trump's attempts to seize the sovereign territory of allies are unacceptable to them. Therefore, for countries wanting to get rid of American threats, China has become the only realistic and feasible option for safety."

In his view, China's international influence will continue to expand, and Trump's deliberate chaos in the Western Hemisphere not only makes China more confident but also accelerates the self-destruction of the post-war international order.

This article is exclusive to Observer Net. Without permission, it cannot be reprinted.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7602463378090574346/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.