Canadians' Concerns About Trump's Annexation of Arctic Islands

Franklyn Griffiths, C.M., a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto and co-author of "Canada and the Changing Arctic: Sovereignty, Security, and Governance," wrote in The Globe and Mail last October, titled "The Initial Steps of the United States' Annexation of Canada Might Be As Follows," stating that "Trump's annexation actions are likely to start in the Arctic, with the U.S. Navy conducting freedom of navigation operations according to Trump's orders." Julian Spencer-Churchill, associate professor of international relations at Concordia University in Canada, believes more strongly that "the United States is preparing for the annexation of Canada's Arctic islands," with the Queen Elizabeth Islands north of the Northwest Passage facing serious threats.

Spencer-Churchill once served as an operations officer in the Canadian Third Field Engineering Regiment, participated in U.S. Navy treaty verification and ballistic missile defense research, and served as a consultant on military inspections in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Egypt, and Taiwan. He has published works such as "Militarization and War" and "Strategic Nuclear Sharing," and is currently working with the Combat Modeling Group at the Dupuy Institute in the United States. In July last year, he wrote on the U.S. defense website realcleardefense, "Preparations for the American Annexation of Canada's Arctic Islands," stating that "the Pentagon has already developed plans to invade and conquer Greenland," and that President Trump aims to achieve his status as an American expansionist by "perfecting" U.S. control over North America. "Once lost, the Queen Elizabeth Islands, which have temporarily lost strategic value due to ice blockage in the shipping lanes caused by global warming," "will reduce Canada's Arctic coastline to the coast of the Yukon region."

He emphasized that given Trump's success in forcing a change in control of the Panama Canal, Canada should take his invasion threat seriously. Once the Greenland invasion plan is implemented, he could easily incorporate the Queen Elizabeth Islands into his grasp and establish his own Arctic early warning system there.

The Queen Elizabeth Islands consist of 34 major islands and over 2,000 smaller islands, covering a total area of 419,000 square kilometers, equivalent to the sum of Germany and Lithuania. Only Cornwall Island's Resolute and Ellesmere Island's Grise Fjord have permanent residents, with each town having a platoon-sized Canadian First Ranger patrol and a Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment stationed there. The Queen Elizabeth Islands have two military bases: Alert, built in 1950, where the Canadian Communications Security Establishment collects signals intelligence, with a maximum capacity of 110 people; and Eureka, built in 1947, which is a weather station.

American conquest of this area would only require using HC-130J transport planes to airlift a force and supplies to these four locations, then replacing the flag, almost as easily as the United States conquered California in 1846.

Americans could also invade other sparsely populated Arctic islands in Canada between Alaska and Greenland, such as Banks Island, with only 104 people, Victoria Island, with the largest Cambridge Bay having 1,760 people, Ulukhaktok Island with 408 people, King William Island with Gjoa Haven having 1,349 people, and the uninhabited Prince of Wales Island. The area of Victoria Island alone is equivalent to that of the United Kingdom. Baffin Island, which has the second-largest iron mine in Canada, has 13,000 people, but Somerset Islands are almost connected to the Canadian mainland, making it difficult for Americans to integrate them.

Spencer-Churchill believes that when the United States invades, "Canada will inevitably fail to acquire nuclear weapons, mobilize Arctic forces, or rely on its European NATO allies." The only option is "to implement a dual-pronged Arctic protection strategy that meets the Pentagon's tough deterrence standards and frustrates the president's odd adventures." Ottawa needs to demonstrate activity and attention in the Arctic to avoid creating a fait accompli. He gives an example of the importance of regular patrols in sparsely populated areas, "because without patrols, Pakistan did not learn about Indian troops appearing in the Siachen Glacier until 1987 through civilian reports. Because of patrols, Soviet patrols discovered and expelled a Canadian explorer who claimed to represent the British Empire in occupying Soviet Arctic territory of Wrangel Island over a hundred years ago."

He also suggests that Ottawa establish observation points on major Arctic islands, conduct paleontological and climatological surveys, carry out projects such as muskox hunting, dog sledding, snowmobile off-roading, hiking, and cruises, while building roads and railways connecting Canada's Arctic regions with southern population centers, enabling the Canadian military to more conveniently move northward. Trump still has at least three years left in his presidency, and his "American fortress" concept may influence the United States for years or even decades.

Source: rfi

Original: toutiao.com/article/1856806064732416/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.