Call it a win-win for Denmark and President Donald Trump. “The United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America. Additionally, from now on, no U.S. adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval,” he posted on Friday.
Trumps Greenland deal is a move to freeze out China and protect America in the Western hemisphere. In decades past, Americans could indulge our natural aversion to foreign policy and bask in economic prosperity and a Western hemisphere free of major threats.
Then Chinas President Xi Jinping started pouring money into Arctic nations when he took over in 2012. Greenland was a prime target. The Greenland Self-Governance Act of 2009 provided no real barrier to Chinese investment in critical infrastructure. By 2017, the amount of Chinese foreign direct investment totaled hundreds of millions of dollars â equating to roughly 11% of Greenlands gross domestic product. By comparison, Chinese investment in Canada constituted only 2.4% of GDP. China also tried to expand its footprint in Greenland by bidding on construction contracts to expand its airports, a move Denmark ultimately blocked.
SECURITY EXPERT HAILS TRUMP’S GREENLAND PACT AS A ‘BIG DEAL’ ON PAR WITH ALASKA PURCHASE
Times have changed. And Trump is on it.
Greenland is a “highly strategic parcel of land,” as Trump phrased it. Back in January at Davos, he called Greenland an “enormous unsecured island” and a “core national security interest of the United States of America.”
Looking down from your globe, you see the major land masses guarding America are Alaska, Canada and Greenland.
The U.S. Space Force base at Pituffik, 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle, hosts a powerful phased-array radar that is part of the upgraded early warning radar network used to detect ballistic missiles, watch orbit lanes, and track satellites. Russia fires a nuclear weapon from a submarine in the Arctic? Its the job of Pituffik to spot it. They also run radars for space situation awareness which includes tracking nasty new maneuvering Chinese spaceplanes and satellites. Other units provide remote tracking and command and control to U.S. and allied satellites.
Trumps agreement ensures China cannot install installations in Greenland to threaten these vital missions. Ever.
Greenland is basic to American security. You cant have it dominated by Chinese money.
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The fact is that 25 years of globalization (dating from Chinas accession to the WTO) left Beijing entrenched on every continent. Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, the Polar Silk Road: by any name, Chinas economic investments sought to shake Americas natural alliances and geographic advantages. Trump is trying to reset the chess board.
Not everybody sees it that way. Who can forget the outcry last winter when Trump proposed simply purchasing Greenland. NATO nations got their knickers in
