中国破冰船北极遇险，遭加拿大军舰追逐
2024-08-07 20:20阅读：
据《欧亚时报》最新报道，今年7月份，中国最先进的“雪龙2号”破冰船在穿越白令海峡时，曾遭到一艘加拿大军舰的“追逐”。外媒称，此举凸显出了北极地区地缘政治局势的紧张。
执行此次“追逐”任务的是加拿大的“里贾纳”号护卫舰，该舰当时正在北极地区进行所谓的“监视”任务。值得注意的是，加拿大方面最初并未主动披露里贾纳号对中方船只的追逐事件，而是在媒体询问后才被曝光的。来自开源船只跟踪网站的信息显示，这起不友好的事件，发生在7月13日至17日。
奇怪的是公开信息显示，“里贾纳”号护卫舰13日在白令海关闭了应答器，四天后又出现在了北极海域。美国国防部发言人弗雷德里卡也证实，当时加拿大舰船和中方船只进行了“互动”。但互动并未过激，是“安全且专业的”。
Canadian Warship 'Chases' China's Most Advanced 'Snow
Dragon' Vessel In Bering Strait Amid High Tensions
By Ashish Dangwal
In a move highlighting geopolitical tensions in the Arctic, a
Canadian warship shadowed China’s most advanced polar icebreaker,
the Xue Long 2 (Snow Dragon 2), as it navigated the Bering Strait
between Russia and Alaska in July.
The HMCS Regina mission was p
art of Canada’s effort to monitor and assert sovereignty in the
Arctic region. The Canadian government initially did not disclose
HMCS Regina’s surveillance of the Xue Long 2 during its Arctic
Ocean mission.
This detail came to light only after media inquiries about the
frigate’s itinerary. According to the Canadian media, the
Department of National Defense, which had described the mission as
an “Arctic awareness and sovereignty mission,” did not explain why
it had omitted the monitoring of the Chinese ship from its public
accounts.
Open-source vessel tracking websites indicated that HMCS Regina’s
surveillance of the Xue Long 2 occurred between July 13 and 17. The
sites also revealed that the Canadian vessel turned off its
transponder on July 13 while in the Bering Sea and reappeared four
days later in Arctic waters.
Frederica Dupuis, a spokesperson for the Department of National
Defense, stated that HMCS Regina and its CH-148 Cyclone helicopter
“interacted safely and professionally” with the Xue Long 2 as it
passed through the strait.
Dupuis clarified that there were no encounters with the Chinese
four-warship task group, which remained in international waters
throughout the operation.
The presence of the Chinese military flotilla was first reported by
the US Coast Guard, which detected the vessels within the US
exclusive economic zone, extending 200 nautical miles from Alaska,
on July 6.
In response, HMCS Regina was dispatched from Canadian Forces Base
Esquimalt near Victoria on July 7 for a rapid deployment. Dave
Mazur, commander of the Canadian Navy’s Pacific fleet, described
the deployment as “on short notice for a brief but impactful
mission.”
The US Coast Guard cutter Kimball monitored the Chinese task group
until it exited the Bering Strait and headed back into the Pacific
Ocean south of the Aleutian Islands.
As stated in a July 10 report by the US Coast Guard, the Chinese
vessels communicated their intent to conduct “freedom of navigation
operations” in response to US radio communications.
Meanwhile, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, the commander of the Royal
Canadian Navy, expressed pride in the extent to which HMCS Regina
traveled north. He noted that it is “extremely rare” for a frigate
to operate at such high latitudes and that this represents a record
for a Halifax-class vessel north of the Bering Strait.
These developments highlight the Arctic’s growing strategic
significance as nations intensify their efforts to secure influence
in this pivotal region.
As climate change accelerates the warming of the Arctic, Canada is
increasingly encountering foreign actors with military ambitions
drawn by the area’s rich natural resources, energy potential, and
key transportation routes.
Although China does not have territorial claims in the Arctic, it
has labeled itself as a “near-Arctic state” to support its growing
presence in the region. This approach is illustrated by the Snow
Dragon 2 vessel, which serves dual purposes.
According to Dupuis, this dual-function approach is part of a broad
pattern where competitor nations, including China and Russia, are
actively exploring Arctic waters and the sea floor, heightening
tensions in the region.
China’s Xue Long 2 is an upgraded successor to the original Xue
Long vessel. While ostensibly a research vessel, it has been used
to reinforce China’s presence in the Arctic, even though the
country does not hold territory there.
This effort is part of a broader strategy to normalize China’s
involvement in the region, which experts argue is meant to subtly
assert China’s interests under the guise of scientific
collaboration.
“We are seeing more Russian activity in our air approaches, and a
growing number of Chinese dual-purpose research vessels and
surveillance platforms collecting data about the Canadian North
that is, by Chinese law, made available to China’s military,”
Dupuis said.
The growing presence of Chinese and Russian military assets is also
evident in recent joint operations, such as Russia and China’s
deployment of bombers in international airspace off the Alaskan
coast.
This joint military activity was closely monitored and intercepted
by US and Canadian fighter jets, underscoring the heightened
strategic competition in the Arctic.
Meanwhile, Canada demonstrated its global stance by navigating a
warship through international waters in the Taiwan Strait on July
31. Defense Minister Bill Blair framed this maneuver as a
reaffirmation of Canada’s commitment to a “free, open, and
inclusive” Indo-Pacific.
China, however, has condemned this action, accusing Canada and its
allies of threatening regional peace. Beijing views Taiwan as a
renegade province and claims sovereignty over the Taiwan Strait,
underscoring the broader geopolitical tensions that intersect with
Arctic and Indo-Pacific strategies.
