A Blue Corridor
The Polar Silk Road could be the new trade route to regional prosperity By Jiang Yin'an
An excavator at work at the site of a new port in Kirkenes, Norway, on March 3, 2017. The port occupies a strategic place on the Polar Silk Road connecting Asia with Europe
The author is an assistant research fellow with the China Institute of International Studies
For businesses using ships as the major means of transportation, the conventional shipping routes from China to Europe, either passing through the Suez Canal that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea or the Cape of Good Hope on the Indian Ocean, are time-consuming and fraught with fears of violence and instability, as well as heavy traffi c. In comparison, a new route through the Arctic is much shorter, taking about a fortnight less.
L5峡部裂区及L4，5相邻棘突骨损伤信号可解释腰痛，L5棘突近横向裂隙处T1及T2加权像低信号不排除与腰痛有关。结合影像学资料，考虑骨信号异常来自负重增加，建议减少弯腰负重，站立时避免过伸，并予口服布洛芬胶囊（0.3 g/次，2次/d）及迈之灵（0.3 g/次，2次/d）。1周后VAS评分降至2分，停药2周后复查VAS评分为0 ～ 1分。康复科予腰部等长收缩锻炼指导，3个月后复诊症状无复发。
The white paper on China's Arctic policy issued last year calls for building the Polar Silk Road, a new blue economic corridor connecting Asia with Europe along Russia's Northern Sea route (NSR) in the Arctic. The Russian Government is already developing the NSR, having issued a comprehensive development plan in 2015. In 2017, the volume of cargo that passed through the NSR was over 18 million tons. It is expected to reach 30 million tons this year and 80 million tons by 2024, making it a vital passage to connect the two continents.
A strategic venture
China and Russia already have several cooperation projects in the region. The Russian areas along the Polar Silk Road have abundant gas resources. The Yamal project in Sabetta has Chinese and Russian companies jointly building a liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) plant with an annual capacity of over 16.5 million tons.
为确保校企合作实验平台项目的落地，应广泛听取校、企双方专家的意见和建议，详细落实校企合作的各个衔接点，设定实践项目的目标、内容和实施方案，双方的权利和责任具体化，保证合作模式能够稳定持久，并随着合作的日益成熟继续推进扩展。
But the situation eased last year after meetings between the leaders of the two Koreas as well as between DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. These interactions have created a promising environment for the Polar Silk Road.
Politically, the easing of tensions in northeast Asia has improved security along the Polar Silk Road. In the past, the United States' threats of force against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the prolonged confrontations between the DPRK and the ROK fomented instability in the region, posing greater risks to cooperation and investment.
The white paper, China's Arctic Policy, says the venture under the Belt and Road Initiative will facilitate connectivity and sustainable economic and social development of the Arctic. China's capital, technology, market, knowledge and experience is expected to play a major role in expanding the network of shipping routes in the region and facilitating the economic and social progress of the coastal states along the routes, it adds.
这次机构改革总的格局保持相对稳定，只是集中力量解决行政管理体制中影响改革和发展的突出矛盾和问题，重点推进国务院机构改革，进一步转变政府职能，以便为促进改革开放和现代化建设提供组织保障。
Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are also interested in the Polar Silk Road. On one hand, their energy self-sufficiency is below 10 percent and they are seeking to diversify their energy imports like China. On the other hand, their advanced shipping manufacturing industries can benefit from the initiative. North European countries struggling with insufficient capital for infrastructure construction are also looking forward to related investment projects.
In 2017, China Shipbuilding Research Center and St. Petersburg State Maritime Technical University entered into an agreement to cooperate in new Arctic technologies for ocean research, Sputnik reported. The Polar Silk Road is likely to see other cooperation projects to develop infrastructure and technology in participating countries.
2.总体上而言，我国35个大中城市的地价和房价之间存在正向的双向因果关系，高地价会推高房价，同时房价的上涨又会进一步拉高地价。这就好比是，土地是原材料，房屋是产品，在市场化机制作用下，产品价格的上涨会拉高原材料价格，而原材料价格的上涨必将推高产品价格。但是，它们之间的这种关系一旦受到政府政策的严格干预，就会发生转变。例如，当房地产市场的价格上涨时，政府及有关部门会预计土地交易市场的价格会有所上升——供求价格论，从而对土地交易市场施加更严格的抑制价格上涨的措施，进而导致该市价格下降。因此，政府及有关部门的调控政策对于降低地价和房价是不可或缺的，但需要从两个市场全面均衡考量。
Zhang J.等人[23]报道了Nd∶GGAG晶体的生长和激光晶体性能，并获得了最高功率2.44 W、斜效率为28.8%的连续激光输出．Zhi Y.C.等人[24]利用Nd∶GGAG晶体获得了最高功率为5.7 W、斜效率为54.5%的连续激光输出，该晶体被动调Q激光最高功率为1.12 W，单脉冲能量为66.7 μJ，显示了Nd∶GGAG晶体在高效率激光领域的应用前景．Agnesi A.等人[25]研究了Nd∶GGAG晶体的锁模激光，其输出功率为65 mW，脉宽为3.7 ps．Nd∶GGAG 晶体作为一种优异的激光增益介质, 也可以在1.3 μm波段以锁模的方式实现激光输出[26]．
China's Tianen cargo ship gets loaded at the Lianyungang Port in the eastern province of Jiangsu on August 4, 2018 before sailing for Europe via the Arctic
Hurdles to overcome
In addition, there are differences among the institutions and the legal frameworks of the countries along the routes. Russia, Canada, Norway and Denmark have a long dispute over the delimitation of the continental shelf and the management of the shipping routes. For example, Russia claims that the shipping routes pass through its internal waters and says all passing vessels should accept Russian jurisdiction while in those waters. The other countries say the routes are international waterways. Given such differences, it is hard to reach an agreement.
However, although the Polar Silk Road has opened up unprecedented chances, it still needs to overcome various challenges. The most prominent one is the lack of political mutual trust among the countries involved. Historical issues and territorial disputes between Japan and Russia, Japan and the ROK, and Japan and China have made their relationships fragile. The Nordic countries have long been skeptical of Russia's intentions, and the tensions deteriorated after the crisis in 2014, when Crimea held a referendum to break away from Ukraine and join Russia.
More importantly, the West has begun to hype up the bogey of the China threat in the Arctic. They portray China as the challenger of the current order. In December 2018, the U.S. Congressional Research Service, the think tank of the U.S. Congress, released a report, accusing China of disrupting the Arctic order and labeling China's activities under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative as part of global expansion.
On May 6, at the opening of the Arctic Council, an eight-member intergovernmental forum to discuss Arctic issues, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged that China's construction activities in the region would create a debt trap for the countries involved and warned them to stay vigilant. The China threat rhetoric, while not representing the mainstream voice, still caters to the prejudice and hostility of some countries and has stymied the advancement of the Polar Silk Road initiative.
Joint advancement
As a blue economic corridor connecting Asia and Europe, the Polar Silk Road could be jointly advanced by the various cooperation mechanisms established under the Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative's fi nancing mechanisms, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund, could provide funding for participating countries with financial diffi culties.
Russia and the five most vital Nordic countries along the Polar Silk Road—Norway, Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark—are all founding members of the AIIB. Therefore, the AIIB could be fully involved in the construction of the Polar Silk Road to facilitate investment in infrastructure and fi nancing.
The communication facilities along the Polar Silk Road are poorly developed. Even developed countries such as Norway still face difficulties in building communication networks in high-latitude areas. The experience and technologies developed in Belt and Road cooperation could be applied to improve the interconnectivity of the Polar Silk Road.
The Polar Silk Road should align with the ongoing projects of the Belt the Road Initiative. For example, it could integrate with the China-Europe freight rail network and the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor to develop joint sea and rail transportation. This would not only deepen Belt and Road cooperation, but also see the Polar Silk Road prosper in multiple fi elds.
Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar
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