It’s a return to the good old days of globalization in Norway – at least for some. A small town needs an investor for much of the infrastructure, and some foreign countries have investors with deep pockets. Local politicians enthusiastically court investors who have money to spare and are eager to spread it around the world. Hooray! Hope for the future of the city!
It’s a return to the good old days of globalization in Norway – at least for some. A small town needs an investor for much of the infrastructure, and some foreign countries have investors with deep pockets. Local politicians enthusiastically court investors who have money to spare and are eager to spread it around the world. Hooray! Hope for the future of the city!
This is, alas, 2024, and part of the infrastructure is the Norwegian port of Kirkenes – also the closest NATO port to Russia. Biggest investor: China’s state-owned shipping giant COSCO.
“I take the liberty of proposing the following agenda:
1. Status and Development Plans
2. Possible establishment of COSCO shipping alliance in Kirkenes.
The person who Sent The message was from Terje Jorgensen, director of the Port of Kirkenes. (Norwegian broadcaster NRK obtained Jorgensen’s message between the port director and COSCO through a freedom of information request.) The Arctic coastal city is just a 20-minute drive from Russia, and its only deep-water port. 53 nautical miles from the Russian port of Pechenga – making it a potentially critical site in any conflict with Moscow.
Kirkenes is a port owned by by the municipality of Sour-Varanger, of which Kirkenes is the largest city. However, Sour-Varanger has only 10,000 inhabitants. Even with taxes paid by local businesses, it is not a large enough taxpayer base to support a port that receives all types of ships, including cruise ships. And the port has an extraordinarily strategic location due to the northern sea route, which every year looks more potentially attractive than the Arctic ice retreat, the management of the port, which in turn reports to a board appointed by the municipality, sees it as a surprise. Opportunities for expansion. But it will take a big injection of capital to pull it off.
That’s why Jorgensen sent his message: He wants COSCO to invest in the port. Indeed, the message was one of many from February 2023, NRK reports. It’s easy to see why Jorgensen and his colleagues were interested in what Cosco had to offer. China’s state-owned shipping company is huge: it owns 1,417 vessels With a total capacity of 116 million deadweight metric tons, more than any other shipping company. It just is placed A massive order for 42 more ships worth $1.8 billion, most of which will be built before 2027, Lloyds List reports.
COSCO, in fact, is exactly the type of company that Western towns and cities and even national governments spent decades running. It would be foolish not to pursue Chinese investors, especially when everyone else was doing it. A decade ago when the United Kingdom needed investors for three nuclear power plants, it turned to state-owned China General Nuclear, which Signed On the dotted line in 2015.
But times have changed dramatically since 2015, and these days, few Western countries, cities or towns are turning to Chinese investments, especially from state-owned conglomerates. Indeed, in its most recent annual report, Norway’s military intelligence agency Notes that China is expanding its cooperation with Russia in the Arctic, while the Norwegian Police Security Service gives a warning Its 2024 National Threat Assessment shows that China wants more control over critical supply chains and is asserting its presence in the Arctic. “We expect the Chinese party-state to continue to prioritize its long-term position in the Arctic and gradually increase its presence and intelligence activity,” the assessment notes.
But China has a well-thumbed playbook to win over local leaders. Kirkness has received several Chinese delegations. At least five other Chinese companies, including a textile manufacturer, a car maker and an investment fund, also mysteriously expressed Interested in establishing themselves in the town.
For COSCO, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) reports There is evidence that the shipping firm supports the Chinese authorities. “For example, COSCO operates its own militia, capable of conducting paramilitary activities such as maritime surveillance, counter-piracy missions, and search-and-rescue operations,” Charlie Lyons-Jones and Raphael Veet wrote for ASPI in 2021, adding that “COSCO appears to be developing the capability necessary to comply with CCP requests to assist in intelligence operations, national defense mobilization or gray-zone activities.”
Despite warnings from security services, Kirkenes leaders have pushed ahead with their Chinese engagement. They are already following a well-trodden path Other European port operators. Last year, COSCO bought 24.9 percent stake in Port of Hamburg’s container terminal. It also has a significant share in the Belgian ports of Zeebrugge and Antwerp; Seattle; Valencia and Bilbao in Spain; And i am going in Italy. In the port of Piraeus, Greece, is Kosko majority owner. As I discussed earlier foreign policyof Peru Chanke Port It was sold to COSCO after local administrators apparently failed to read the fine print.
Kirkenes Port envisages not only shipping between Chinese ports and Kirkenes but COSCO’s presence in the port itself. In May, Jorgensen met with COSCO representatives at the shipping firm’s Helsinki office. Because the port leadership knew the courting was controversial, Jørgensen then proposed an alternative name to be used in Kirkness’ communications, according to NRK’s muckering journalists. discovered. “I think it will be very beneficial politically if we start using the word OCEAN ALLIANCE. … [D]Characterizing it as cooperation with the coalition will probably take some of the heat out of the issue politically,” he wrote in a May 8 email.
But the heat has not gone away. As things stand, COSCO will do just that Lease Portions of Kirkenes, not owned by him. But a large presence of a state-owned Chinese entity in Norway’s border region with Russia is still a risky undertaking. It is an open question why Cosco is interested in the small port. Yes, it can be a useful staging post as the Northern Sea Route continues, but there are other ports that COSCO could use. Murmansk, on the Russian side of the border, is a major Arctic shipping hub. Norway’s centre-right opposition has asked Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storr to intervene.
Port boss Jorgensen, however, appears determined to strike a deal, and Kirkenes leaders point out that they are in charge of investments and jobs in their communities – not national security agencies. This looks like the Swedish island of Gotland in 2007, when the Nord Stream offers Attractive payment for the right to use Gotland’s Sleight port for the construction of Nord Stream 1. Local leaders eager to take advantage of the globalized economy eagerly embraced the proposal. (I write about the case in my book Goodbye globalization.)
Will the Norwegian government try to thwart the Kirkens leaders’ COSCO plans? On September 4, he seemed to have made up his mind. “We want better interaction between authorities and municipalities to balance considerations for business and local communities on the one hand and national security on the other. However, the government is prepared to say no to Chinese actors if necessary to protect national security,” said Norway’s Minister of Justice and Public Security, Emilie Anger Mehl. declared In a statement. The port of Kirkenes, however, is unlikely to let its Chinese dream go without a fight. As for the Gahar store, it will soon leave for a trip to China.
Be prepared for more such clashes between people responsible for business, job creation, and national security—and the security of local communities and our countries.
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