Abstract
In a context in which energy resources are scarce on the planet, the Atlantic emerges as a space of growing competition not only in terms of food (fisheries), but also energy security. Portugal, which has one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world (and may even double its maritime platform) faces nowadays new challenges in a space of increasing importance at the geopolitical and strategic level. Based on this context, this chapter intends to study Portuguese maritime priorities within the Atlantic, with a special focus on the challenges and opportunities generated by the growing Chinese presence in the Atlantic.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
If implemented, STARLAB would enable cooperation between Portugal and China on microsatellite launches and ocean monitoring. It should be borne in mind in this connection that one of the reasons given by the EU for suspending cooperation with China in developing the Galileo Programme (the EU's satellite navigation system) is precisely the fear of alleged espionage and strategic parity (shared, incidentally, by the US NASA, which also refuses to cooperate with China on space matters) that such cooperation is likely to offer Beijing. Portugal could therefore be the first EU country to set a precedent in such a sensitive matter, which, together with the other aspects mentioned, makes it to be seen as a case study in the EU Belt and Road.
References
Alexander, D. 2015. “U.S. to cut European military bases as budgets shrink”. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-defense-europe-idUKKBN0KH18O20150108. Accessed May 8, 2022.
Bennett, M., et al. 2020. “The opening of the Transpolar Sea Route: Logistical, geopolitical, environmental, and socioeconomic impacts”. Marine Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104178
Butt, K., Kharl, S., and Bhatti, K. 2020. “String of pearls: Politics of ports in Indian Ocean”. South Asian Studies (1026-678X), 35(1): 73–86.
Cacho, J. L. 2020. “As potencialidades do Porto de Sines”. ADFERSIT—Associação Portuguesa para o Desenvolvimento dos Sistemas Integrados de Transportes. https://adfersit.pt/noticia/439/as-potencialidades-do-porto-de-sines. Accessed June 1, 2022.
CBS News. 2017. “Defense Dept. decision gives China chance for foothold between U.S. and Europe”. Accessed May 3, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/azores-withdrawal-gives-china-foothold-between-us-europe/
China’s Arctic Policy. 2018. The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China January 2018. Accessed May 4, 2022. http://english.www.gov.cn/archive/white_paper/2018/01/26/content_281476026660336.htm.
Coelho, P. 2017. “O Artigo 76.º da Convenção das Nações Unidas sobre o Direito do Mar—A Problemática da Aplicação Técnica de Conceitos Jurídicos pela (in)Controversa Comissão de Limites da Plataforma Continental”. Tese de Doutoramento. Porto: Faculdade de Direito da Universidade do Porto.
Costa, S. 1967. Portugal, País Macrocéfalo. Mem Martins: Publicações Europa-América.
Costa Silva, A. 2020. “Visão Estratégica para o Plano de Recuperação Económica de Portugal 2020–2030”. Governo de Portugal. https://www.portugal.gov.pt/download-ficheiros/ficheiro.aspx?v=%3d%3dBQAAAB%2bLCAAAAAAABAAzNDAytAQAziD%2fFAUAAAA%3d. Accessed June 1, 2022.
Diário de Notícias. 2019. https://www.dn.pt/mundo/este-xi-nao-e-a-china-com-quem-os-portugueses-tem-comerciado-durante-500-anos-10878774.html. Accessed May 3, 2022.
Diário da República. 2017. “Resolução do Conselho de Ministros” nº 175/2017, série I de 2017-11-24. https://dre.pt/dre/detalhe/resolucao-conselho-ministros/175-2017-114248655. Accessed February 11, 2022.
Duarte, P. 2017. Pax Sinica. Lisbon: Chiado Editora.
Duarte, P. 2018. “Whose Silk Road? The Chinese, US, European Union and Russian strategic projects for regional integration in Central Asia”. In The New Silk Road in the Context of East Asian Relations and Wider International Implications, edited by Carmen Mendes, 38–49. Routledge.
Duarte, P. 2020. De Lisboa a Pequim: Portugal na Faixa e Rota Chinesa. Lisboa: Instituto Internacional de Macau.
Duarte, P., and Leandro, F. 2020. “The Ultimate European Border: The Belt and Road Initiative Discovers Portugal”. In Duarte, P. and Leandro, F. (eds). The Belt and Road Initiative—International Perspectives on an Old Archetype of a New Development Model, 363–388. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
EMEPC—Estrutura de Missão para a Extensão da Plataforma Continental. 2020. https://www.emepc.pt/. Accessed May 9, 2022.
Erickson, A., and Wuthnow, J. 2016. Barriers, springboards and benchmarks: China conceptualizes the pacific ‘Island Chains’. The China Quarterly, 225: 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741016000011
Espada, J. 2014. Portugal, a Europa e o Atlântico. Lisbon: Alêtheia.
European Commission. 2022. “Motorways of the Sea”. https://transport.ec.europa.eu/transport-modes/maritime/motorways-sea_en. Accessed February 11, 2022.
Expresso. 2019. “Sines. Terminal Vasco da Gama promete criar 1.350 postos de trabalho”. https://expresso.pt/economia/2019-10-16-Sines.-Terminal-Vasco-da-Gama-promete-criar-1.350-postos-de-trabalho. Accessed May 9, 2022.
Ferreira, R. 2021. “China de olhos postos na transição digital, economia do mar e saúde em Portugal”. O Jornal Económico. https://jornaleconomico.pt/noticias/china-de-olhos-postos-na-transicao-digital-economia-do-mar-e-saude-em-portugal-755602. Accessed January 11, 2022.
Ferreira-Pereira, L. C., and Duarte, P. 2021. “China and the Belt and Road Initiative in Europe: The case of Portugal”. In Ntousas and Minas (eds). The European Union and China's Belt and Road, 218–234. Routledge.
Ferreira-Pereira, L. C., and Duarte, P. 2022. “The South Atlantic in China’s Global Policy: Why It Matters?” In Duarte, P., Leandro, F. and Galán, E. (eds). The Palgrave Handbook of Globalization with Chinese Characteristics. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
Goldstein, L. 2017. “Is China Crafting an Atlantic Maritime Strategy?” The National Interest. http://nationalinterest.org/feature/beijing-sea-china-crafting-atlantic-maritime-strategy-19622. Accessed May 18, 2022.
Governo de Portugal. 2021. “Resolução do Conselho de Ministros n.º 68/2021 sobre a Estratégia Nacional para o Mar”. https://www.portugal.gov.pt/download-ficheiros/ficheiro.aspx?v=%3d%3dBQAAAB%2bLCAAAAAAABAAzNLQwsQQAODaj3AUAAAA%3d. Accessed May 18, 2022.
Guedes, A. 2012. “Geopolitical Shifts in the Wider Atlantic: Past, Present, and Future”. In Richardson, J. et al. 2012. The Fractured Ocean: Current Challenges to Maritime Policy in the Wider Atlantic, 11–57. Wider Atlantic Series.
Jornal Económico. 2018. https://jornaleconomico.sapo.pt/noticias/do-comercio-a-educacao-conheca-os-17-acordos-de-cooperacao-assinados-entre-portugal-e-china-385631. Accessed May 2, 2022.
Lima, B. 2016. Portugal e o Atlântico. Lisboa: Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos.
Madureira, P. 2017. A Plataforma Continental Portuguesa-Os Recursos Minerais Marinhos. Lisboa: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa.
Mahan, A. 1890. Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
Martinson, R. 2019. “China as an Atlantic Naval Power”. The RUSI Journal, 164(7): 18–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2019.1700684
Moreira, A. 2018. “O Mar em Perspetiva”. Cadernos Navais, Centro de Estudos Estratégicos da Marinha, nº 50, outubro. Lisbon: Edições Culturais da Marinha.
Observador. 2021. “China quer mais parcerias e cooperação com Portugal”. https://observador.pt/2021/12/14/china-quer-mais-parcerias-e-cooperacao-com-portugal/. Accessed January 12, 2022.
Porto de Sines. 2022. https://www.apsinesalgarve.pt/porto-de-sines. Accessed June 1, 2022.
Portuguese-American Journal. 2016. “President Vasco Cordeiro welcomes Chinese Minister of the Sea”. https://portuguese-american-journal.com/china-president-vasco-cordeiro-welcomes-chinese-minister-of-the-sea-azores/. Accessed January 12, 2022.
Público. 2018a. “Extensão da plataforma continental vai estar fechada até 2021”. https://jornaleconomico.sapo.pt/noticias/extensao-da-plataforma-continental-vai-estar-fechada-ate-2021-345332. Accessed June 1, 2022.
Público. 2018b. “Xi em Portugal: Pequim destaca cooperação com Lisboa em países terceiros”. https://www.publico.pt/2018b/11/23/economia/noticia/xi-portugal-pequim-destaca-cooperacao-lisboa-paises-terceiros-1852203. Accessed January 11, 2022.
Público. 2021a. “Laboratório sino-português junta-se à iniciativa chinesa Uma Faixa, Uma Rota”. https://www.publico.pt/2021a/12/10/ciencia/noticia/laboratorio-sinoportugues-juntase-iniciativa-chinesa-faixa-rota-1988072. Accessed June 1, 2022.
Público. 2021b. “Concurso para novo terminal do Porto de Sines encerra sem propostas”. https://www.publico.pt/2021b/04/07/economia/noticia/concurso-novo-terminal-porto-sines-encerra-propostas-1957584. Accessed January 13, 2022.
Recuperar Portugal. 2021. “Resilience and recovery plan”. C10 (Mar), https://recuperarportugal.gov.pt/c10-mar/?lang=en. Accessed January 15, 2022.
Rodrigues, C., and Silva, J. T. da. 2020, “Portugal, China and the US: A universalist’s stance to get along with both powers”. In Esteban, M. et al. (eds), Europe in the face of US-China Rivalry, A report by the European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC), 131–135.
Sea National Strategy 2021–2030. Council of Ministers Resolution no. 68/2021, published at Diário da República, Series I, no. 108, 4 June 2021. https://dre.pt/dre/detalhe/resolucao-conselho-ministros/68-2021-164590045?_ts=1654214400034. Accessed January 10, 2022.
Serrão Santos, R. 2021. Speech at the 3rd International Conference on Portugal-China Cooperation. Lisbon, 14 and 15 December. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kPYokghAeg. Accessed January 15, 2022.
Silva, A. C. 2020. “Visão Estratégica para o Plano de Recuperação Económica de Portugal 2020–2030”. Report to Portuguese Government. https://www.portugal.gov.pt/download-ficheiros/ficheiro.aspx?v=%3d%3dBQAAAB%2bLCAAAAAAABAAzNDAytAQAziD%2fFAUAAAA%3d. Accessed February 11, 2022.
Silva, J. T. da. 2020. Portugal-China—As Relações Luso-Chinesa, do Mundo Quinhentista ao Contexto Contemporâneo. Macau: Instituto Internacional de Macau.
Silva, J. T. da, and Pereira, R. 2020. “China and the Portuguese Atlantic: The BRI´s last puzzle piece”. Leandro, F., and Duarte, P. (eds.), The Belt and Road Initiative—International perspectives on an old archetype of a new development model, 389–409. Palgrave.
The 12th Five-Year Plan. 2011. “The 12th Five-Year Plan for economic and social development of the People’s Republic of China”. In Central committee of the Communist Party of China. Beijing. http://www.csrc.gov.cn/pub/csrc_en/newsfacts/release/201210/W020121010631355001488.pdf. Accessed May 4, 2022.
The 13th Five-Year Plan. 2016. “The 13th five-year plan for economic and social development of the People’s Republic of China 2016–2020”. Compilation and Translation Bureau, Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Beijing. https://en.ndrc.gov.cn/policies/202105/P020210527785800103339.pdf. Accessed May 4, 2022.
Woon, C. 2020. “Framing the Polar Silk Road: Critical geopolitics, Chinese scholars and the (Re)positionings of China’s Arctic interests”. Political Geography, 78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2019.102141.
Xinhua. 2015. “Chronology of China’s Belt and Road Initiative”. 28 March. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-03/28/c_134105435.htm. Accessed May 4, 2022.
Zeng, Q., et al. 2020. “The competitiveness of Arctic shipping over Suez Canal and China-Europe railway”. Transport Policy, 86: 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2019.11.005;
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
da Silva, J.T., Duarte, P.A.B., Pereira, R.P. (2023). China, Portugal and the Atlantic: The Shifting Geopolitics. In: Duarte, P.A.B., Albuquerque, R., Tavares, A.M.L. (eds) Portugal and the Lusophone World. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-0455-6_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-0455-6_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-99-0454-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-99-0455-6
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)