China’s New Arctic Gamble Has a Russian Catch

China’s new Arctic route cuts the journey from Ningbo to Europe in half. What the headlines aren’t saying is that every mile of it runs through Russian waters, on Russian terms. You’ve rarely seen China advertise dependency. This is because its foreign policy vocabulary is based on self-reliance, strategic autonomy, and calculated display of strength. So, when the first regular container service through the Arctic was quietly launched by a Chinese shipping company this month, the press release called it a commercial breakthrough with a much faster route. This is a modern-day Silk Road, but on ice. What it actually…