Trump’s Greenland gambit puts China on edge after Venezuela operation

U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed threat to take control of Greenland has raised alarm in Beijing, following Washington’s military operation that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump, who has long advocated U.S. control over the self-governing Danish territory, repeatedly emphasized on Sunday that Greenland is strategically important.

“We need Greenland from a national security situation. It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

In an email to Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Trump views acquiring Greenland as a national security priority to deter rivals in the Arctic. She added that his team is weighing a range of options — including the possibility of using military force.

Chinese authorities have pushed back. On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian criticized Washington for “using the so-called ‘China threat’ as a pretext for itself to seek selfish gains.”

China described itself as a “near-Arctic state” in its 2018 official Arctic Policy, asserting its right to use resources and develop shipping routes in the Arctic.

State-linked Chinese firms have also invested heavily in Arctic energy projects and developed maritime routes that could reduce shipping times between Asia and Europe.

“China would push back hard against any U.S. move to take control of Greenland, given Beijing’s commercial interests on the island — from resource exploration to the security of Arctic shipping routes,” said Xinbo Wu, director at the Center for American Studies at Shanghai-based Fudan University.

The U.S. Defense Department has identified China and Russia as key competitors in the region, pointing to their expanded military capabilities and joint naval patrols as risks to national security.

Beijing could seek to raise costs for Washington through multilateral diplomacy and may deepen military cooperation with Russia in the Arctic region to deter the U.S., Wu said.

“We are really getting into uncharted territory and we have to be extremely careful,” said Henry Wang, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization, a think-tank that often aligns with Beijing’s thinking.

“The international community has to work together now and probably stop this kind of unilateral approach.”

Beijing’s main interests in Greenland mirror those of the U.S.: rare earths, uranium and zinc, said Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group.

Greenland, a vast and sparsely populated autonomous Danish territory, hosts several large rare-earth element deposits, with some discovered mines ranking among the world’s…