The Arctic Governance Mosaic and Sustainability: A corpus-based discourse analysis of documents on the Arctic by the Chinese State Council between 2013 and 2021

Abstract: In 2013, China became observer for the Arctic Council, and in 2018, its first official Arctic Policy Paper was published. In view of the Arctic’s fragile ecosystems and climate change, this thesis conducts a corpus-based discourse analysis on China’s narrative on the environment and sustainability between 2013 and 2021. Oran B. Young's framework, the 'Arctic Governance Mosaic' detangles the complex governance structure of the region ranging from Global agreements to PPPs, and further elements. 201 publications of the State Council are being examined. Throughout the years, the sustainability narrative has shifted from humble and legitimacy-seeking to self-confident and lecturing, which indicates an attitude shift. It appears as if China tries to implicate international acceptance and eventually respect, potentially by means of the narrative on sustainability, while following other interests of infrastructure building and resource exploitation more straightforwardly. Meanwhile, the narrative on scientific expeditions for examining environmental science remains strong.