Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by blackeyeblitzar 476 days ago
> Doesn't the US already have a military presence there?

Not anymore. What was Thule air base got converted to a space force early warning type base. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pituffik_Space_Base

> Which other country would be obsessed with Greenland?

China is obsessed with Greenland, which is why the US now is. You can find many articles on China’s interest in Greenland, going back years (before Trump). Some even suggest that China has been looking to get more infrastructure contracts there to control Greenland through debt.

For the US and EU, preventing China’s access to the Arctic is important. But also Greenland happens to have rare earth deposits, which are useful because China is going to hold back supply of various resources like rare earths and titanium.
2 comments
WatchDog 476 days ago
Regardless of what it's mission is, and which military branch operates the base, it still counts as the US having a military presence.
link
blackeyeblitzar 476 days ago
It is a very different presence though. There aren’t fighter jets and bombers stationed there any more. It’s more of a monitoring thing.
link
m4rtink 476 days ago
Isn't mining anything in Greenland bloody hard given the arctic climate ? It kinda has so low population and small economy for a reason & I don't think global warming will measurably help with it.
link
AlecSchueler 476 days ago
It's a long-term investment betting on the arctic climate disappearing in the coming years.
link
defrost 476 days ago
Like Siberian cattle ranching.

Already Russia has been sending russians to compete in Texas and other rodeos to pick up anticipated skill sets when the tundra is replaced by rich grasslands.

link
blackeyeblitzar 476 days ago
Mining there has been repeatedly considered. It hadn’t happened mainly due to environmental concerns and politics, not practicality. For example, back in 2021 a left leaning party won elections there and pledged to block mining projects immediately:

https://www.reuters.com/article/world/left-wing-party-wins-g...

The same article mentions that even at that time, a partnership between an Australian company (whose biggest shareholder is a Chinese company) and a Chinese company had already spent $100 million on preparing for a mining project, at this place:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvanefjeld

TLDR there has been a long history of outside countries trying to access rare earth minerals (and other things) in Greenland, but especially China.

link