【By Observer Net, Xiong Chaoran】According to China Central Television news, the "Xue Long 2" is China's first self-built polar scientific research icebreaker. As the world's first polar research vessel equipped with bow and stern icebreaking technology, it is an important force for China's polar research. However, while the "Xue Long 2" was carrying out normal scientific research tasks, Western countries not only repeatedly "tracked" it but even "accused first".

On July 26 local time, the U.S. Coast Guard released a statement through its official accounts on Facebook and X platform, claiming that on the previous day (July 25), a research vessel named "Xue Long 2" flying the Chinese flag was found near the so-called Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) of the Arctic in the United States, located about 290 nautical miles (approximately 537 kilometers) north of Utqiaġvik, Alaska. At the same time, the post also included a photo of the "Xue Long 2".

According to the unilateral statement from the U.S. Department of State, the "Extended Continental Shelf" refers to the part of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (approximately 370 kilometers) from the baseline of the U.S. territorial sea. The statement claimed that the U.S. has "exclusive rights to protect and manage" biological and non-biological resources within its so-called "Extended Continental Shelf", and that the "Xue Long 2" was located 130 nautical miles (approximately 240 kilometers) inside the boundary of the U.S. "Extended Continental Shelf". A U.S. Coast Guard C-130J transport aircraft responded to the "Xue Long 2".

Previously, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jia Kun had emphasized that China has always conducted normal maritime activities in relevant areas according to international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and hopes that relevant parties would correctly understand and not be suspicious or speculate unwarrantedly.

Image of the "Xue Long 2" captured by the U.S. Coast Guard - Screenshot from Facebook

In this statement, Bob Little, the commander of the U.S. Coast Guard's Arctic region, claimed: "The U.S. Coast Guard closely monitors and responds to the activities of foreign government vessels in U.S. waters and nearby areas, to ensure territorial integrity and protect sovereignty interests from 'malicious state activities'."

It is reported that the C-130J transport aircraft at that time was carrying out the so-called "Border Sentinel Operation" in the U.S. Coast Guard's Arctic region. This operation claims to respond to "hostile activities" in Alaskan waters or nearby areas.

As early as the end of 2023, the U.S. Department of State had included a new map in its related statements, which showed that the continental shelf area had expanded and marked the outer boundaries of the regions where the U.S. claims sovereignty. On December 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of State issued a statement unilaterally announcing the expansion of its sovereign claims over large areas of the Arctic and Bering Sea's extended continental shelf (ECS). It is reported that the total area of the continental shelf claimed in this case is approximately 1 million square kilometers, about twice the size of California.

Regarding the U.S. unilateral announcement of expanding its sovereignty claims in the Arctic, Nikolay Kharitonov, chairman of the Arctic Committee of the Russian State Duma, stated that such unilateral actions by the U.S. are unacceptable and could lead to increased tensions.

According to international law, the Arctic and the surrounding North Ocean do not belong to any country. In addition to the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Russia have also made sovereignty claims over the seabed areas of the Arctic Ocean. This is because there are resources equivalent to 8.3 billion tons of standard fuel in those areas, and nearly 80% of them are concentrated in the Barents Sea and Kara Sea. Furthermore, the possibility of discovering new large oil and gas fields in unexplored continental shelf areas is very high. The U.S. hopes to obtain minerals needed for producing electric vehicle batteries through this move.

In recent times, apart from the U.S., the Canadian military and coast guard have also been "tracking" and "monitoring" the Chinese research vessel "Xue Long 2" in the Arctic. Early this week, the Canadian military was monitoring the movements of the "Xue Long 2" in the Arctic region.

On July 22 local time, Alexander Naraine, a spokesperson for the Canadian Joint Operations Centre, said that the "Xue Long 2" was currently "not within Canadian territorial waters". He claimed that Canada had deployed a CP-140 "Aurora" aircraft stationed in Alaska to conduct "active monitoring" of this Chinese research vessel.

Zhuo Hua, an expert on international issues from the School of International Relations at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times that from the information released by Canadian media, it can be seen that Canada seems unwilling to disclose the details of the incident, as it is essentially a harassment activity by the Canadian military and police against civilian ships. "The Canadian side knows clearly and deliberately keeps it under wraps," Zhuo Hua added. Zhuo Hua further explained that the scientific research activities of the Chinese research vessel fully comply with the international law of the sea and are consistent with the practices of other countries in marine scientific research.

Over the past few years, the U.S. has frequently spread false accusations about the normal cooperation between China and Russia in the Arctic, and has exaggerated the so-called threat of Sino-Russian Arctic military cooperation.

In response, China and Russia have repeatedly emphasized that their Arctic cooperation does not target anyone, but aims to promote regional stability. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has strongly rejected the U.S. baseless accusations, opposed the U.S. misinterpretation of China's Arctic policy, and criticized the U.S. for making unfounded comments on China's normal Arctic activities based on international law.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7531575913377448488/

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