Countries across the globe are increasingly focused on the Arctic due to its expanding shipping routes, vast natural resources, and cutting-edge scientific research opportunities. China view the Arctic as a critical new frontier for its economic and geostrategic opportunities. Since China isn’t geographically located in the Arctic, it must work with other nations, like Russia, to achieve its aims in the region. However, Chinese engagement in the Arctic has been met with skepticism, especially from the United States and European nations weary of China’s relationship with Russia and the impact of China’s economic activity on their own industries.
Elizabeth Wishnick joined us on June 6, 2026 to discuss China’s economic and security interests in the Arctic and China’s reception in the region.
Elizabeth Wishnick
Dr. Elizabeth Wishnick is Senior Research Scientist for China Studies at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA). She has been a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute since 2002. She was a tenured professor at Montclair State University from 2005-2024, where she taught Chinese Politics and International Relations. Her latest book, China’s Risk: Energy, Water, Food and Regional Security (forthcoming Columbia University Press), addresses the security consequences of energy, water, and food risks in China for its Eurasian neighbors, a topic she explores in a Substack newsletter. She is the author of Mending Fences: Moscow’s China Policy from Brezhnev to Yeltsin (2001 and 2014) and has written more than sixty academic and policy articles. She spent about three years living and working in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and received two Fulbright awards, one for Hong Kong in 2002, and another for China, Russia, and Kazakhstan in 2018-22. She also has traveled extensively in the Russian Far East for research. She was previously a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Stanford University, Harvard University, and the Academia Sinica (Taiwan). Her analysis has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, and The Diplomat, and she was featured on the PBS NewsHour.