ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the political controversy that emerged in 2012 surrounding the prospect of Chinese investment in Greenland, as well as the post-2012 identification of China as a potential security threat in the Arctic, is best understood through the lens of partisan politics in the Danish Folketing. The chapter presents a brief history of the largely unsuccessful efforts by junior mining companies and the government of Greenland to attract Chinese investment in Greenland before and after the collapse of iron ore prices in 2012, and argues that the positions taken by Danish politicians on the question of Chinese investment in Greenland were in fact closely aligned with their parties’ broader rhetoric on domestic policy issues such as immigration and labour.
