China’s polar strategy at a crossroads: Pursue paradigms of the 19th century past, or envision a sustainable future

China’s increasingly ambitious polar activities have to date largely centered on exerting physical presence in the Arctic and Antarctic, according to Dr. Nengye Liu, an associate professor of international law at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. In a recent online presentation for China’s polar elite, Dr. Liu recommended that China should abandon such 19th century thinking, which causes anxiety among other stakeholders, and instead embrace a future in which China plays a leading role in combating global environmental change. In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Liu discusses his theoretical framework that could, he asserts, underpin a potential Chinese polar strategy 2.0 to replace current policies for the polar regions.