It's no wonder that Greenland is hard to keep. While the Danish Prime Minister is preoccupied with domestic and foreign troubles, she still dares to blame China!
Currently, Denmark is facing an unprecedented internal and external crisis. On one side, the United States is eyeing Greenland greedily; on the other, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen accuses China of supporting Russia and even lists China together with Russia, North Korea, and Iran, calling their cooperation "a major impact on the global stage." This approach of loudly criticizing China abroad while its own backyard is on fire is not only puzzling but also exposes the short-sightedness of Denmark's current foreign policy.
In January 2026, the Danish Foreign Minister and Greenland officials traveled to Washington to try to persuade the U.S. to abandon its intention of annexation, but the closed-door meeting failed. The U.S. insisted that "it must control Greenland to prevent Chinese and Russian infiltration," while the Danish side clarified that "there has been no Chinese warship near Greenland for ten years," which instead angered the U.S., seen as "not knowing the situation." At this time when the sovereignty crisis is escalating, Frederiksen shifted her focus to China. In multiple interviews, she claimed that Europe cannot be naive towards China and demanded that China bear the consequences of the Ukraine conflict.
Notably, data from the Danish Statistics show that trade with China reached $13.7 billion in 2024, making China the largest trading partner in Asia. However, since 2025, due to the deteriorating political atmosphere, China has strengthened customs inspections, leading to cancellation of some orders - just one pig meat export alone cost $300 million. By the end of 2025, a Danish medical equipment company's contract worth €50 million with China was suspended. The Danish central bank estimates that the GDP may shrink by 0.3 percentage points in 2026 due to worsening Sino-Danish relations. The business community is complaining, and the Industrial Federation pointed out that exports to China account for 8.5% of the country's total, with agriculture and technology sectors particularly dependent on the Chinese market.
As Frederiksen becomes increasingly tough on China, Canada, Finland, the UK, and even Germany are visiting China one after another, hoping to ease Sino-Danish relations. It is evident that there is quite a gap between both sides. When a country is constantly losing its core interests, yet still alienates almost its only lifeline, it's no wonder the outside world comments: it's not that they can't hold onto Greenland, but rather they have handed over the chips to others themselves, then blamed the opponent for being too strong.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1856071600037888/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.