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08-31-2011, 06:58 AM
Icelandic authorities on Tuesday expressed concern that a Chinese tycoon’s plans to buy a 300 sq km area of land in the north of the Arctic island and build a resort there may be part of China’s broader agenda of gaining footholds in strategic areas.
REUTERS - Iceland responded warily on Tuesday to a Chinese tycoon's plan to buy a swathe of isolated land for a green tourism venture, a deal which analysts say raises security questions due to the North Atlantic island's strategic location.
The minister responsible for approving any investment by Huang Nubo said the scheme, part of a trend of Chinese buying of assets in the West, needed close scrutiny.
"This question has to be looked at carefully from many different aspects," Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson told Reuters, citing issues of selling such a large piece of land to a foreigner and the ownership of natural resources.
So far there has been little wider expression of concern in Iceland about the plan put forward by Huang, who was 161st on the Forbes list of the richest Chinese in 2010.
But analysts said security aspects of the deal could not be ignored, due to Iceland's strategic location mid-Atlantic between Europe and the United States, and its proximity to the Arctic where a number of nations are competing to make resource claims.
"While this project in Iceland might be a private initiative, it fits in a broader (Chinese) policy agenda to get hold of strategic assets abroad, ranging from land, over raw materials, to knowhow," said Jonathan Holslag, head of research at the Institute of Contemporary China Studies in Brussels.
"Furthermore, in China's 'go-global' policy, we often see that private investors are often just a vanguard for large projects by state-owned firms, and that the government usually follows with a more assertive diplomacy to protect those newly-gained interests."
Ownership of the Arctic seabed has grown in importance as the shrinking of sea ice has opened new prospects for exploration and production of the region's potentially vast oil and gas resources.
http://www.france24.com/en/20110831-iceland-china-resort-plans-green-resort-strategic-location-glacier-tourism
REUTERS - Iceland responded warily on Tuesday to a Chinese tycoon's plan to buy a swathe of isolated land for a green tourism venture, a deal which analysts say raises security questions due to the North Atlantic island's strategic location.
The minister responsible for approving any investment by Huang Nubo said the scheme, part of a trend of Chinese buying of assets in the West, needed close scrutiny.
"This question has to be looked at carefully from many different aspects," Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson told Reuters, citing issues of selling such a large piece of land to a foreigner and the ownership of natural resources.
So far there has been little wider expression of concern in Iceland about the plan put forward by Huang, who was 161st on the Forbes list of the richest Chinese in 2010.
But analysts said security aspects of the deal could not be ignored, due to Iceland's strategic location mid-Atlantic between Europe and the United States, and its proximity to the Arctic where a number of nations are competing to make resource claims.
"While this project in Iceland might be a private initiative, it fits in a broader (Chinese) policy agenda to get hold of strategic assets abroad, ranging from land, over raw materials, to knowhow," said Jonathan Holslag, head of research at the Institute of Contemporary China Studies in Brussels.
"Furthermore, in China's 'go-global' policy, we often see that private investors are often just a vanguard for large projects by state-owned firms, and that the government usually follows with a more assertive diplomacy to protect those newly-gained interests."
Ownership of the Arctic seabed has grown in importance as the shrinking of sea ice has opened new prospects for exploration and production of the region's potentially vast oil and gas resources.
http://www.france24.com/en/20110831-iceland-china-resort-plans-green-resort-strategic-location-glacier-tourism