The city of Kemij?rvi, located in Finland’s northernmost Lapland administrative region, rejected a January 2018 offer from the Chinese Polar Research Center to buy or lease the city’s airport after notifying the Finnish Defense Forces, Finnish media recently revealed.
The delegation, then led by the director of the Chinese Polar Research Center, the director of the polar research office of China’s State Oceanic Administration and an assistant major of the Chinese military attaché in Finland, came to Kemij?rvi in 2018 with plans to buy the airport, the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation (YLE) reported on March 4. The airport would be used for landing and take-off of Arctic research aircraft, and the Chinese side did not rule out fully covering the costs of renovating and expanding the local airport.
The delegation’s proposed purpose is to conduct Arctic research on Arctic glaciers, and they need to establish a base of activity in Kemijärvi, the report said. A large jet plane will arrive with different measuring equipment and they will fly to the Arctic, make measurements and then fly back. It is known that from the flight route, observations can be made from the Arctic Ocean, as well as from the Northeast Passage of the Arctic Route, which is of interest to China and Russia.
Arctic route Northeast Passage is about 3,000 nautical miles, sailing westward through the Bering Strait, passing through the Chukchi Sea along the northern waters of the Eurasian continent and other places, through the Barents Sea to near the North Cape of Norway, and finally to the European ports, is the communication between China and Europe and the United States water the nearest channel. From the perspective of maritime transport efficiency, the Arctic shipping route is 12 to 15 days less than the traditional route, known as the “Golden Waterway”.
Mayor Lantaren of Kemijärvi, Finland Photo © Internet
Speaking to Finnish state broadcaster Atte Rantanen, the mayor of Kemijärvi said that China wants to build an airlift base for Arctic research in the area, where large aircraft carrying research and measurement equipment are expected to land and take off. He said that it is planned that the 1,400-meter-long runway at Kemijärvi Municipal Airport, which is used by small aircraft, should be extended to 3 kilometers for heavy jets. The renovation of the runway alone will cost at least 40 million euros. In addition, if an agreement is reached, all the buildings needed for the airport and the research laboratory will be brought in. Today, there are still rudimentary old buildings on the ground at the airport.
The Kemijärvi municipal airport and flight area is adjacent to the Rovaj?rvi firing range. The Finnish Defence Forces also use the site from Time to time. The city then questioned the Finnish Defence Forces about the project. The Finnish Defense Forces said such activities could not take place in the vicinity. It is too close to the Rovajemi shooting range, Lantanen said.
Anu Sallinen, an advisory officer to the Finnish Defense Ministry, also responded that the idea to buy the Kemijärvi airport came to the Defense Ministry three years ago. She noted that the property is unlikely to be sold to a state-owned company next to a strategically important firing range. Moreover, such a proposal would be unrealistic given the EU legislation restricting foreign investment from October 2020. China currently has research centers in the Arctic in Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard.
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