China-Norway relations still frozen

Views and News from Norway wrote an extensive piece explaining the mending efforts and challenges that remain between Norway and China in the aftermath of the Nobel Committee’s decision last year. Norwegian firms doing business have suffered from sapping relations. Many of them have had to find other ways into Chinese market. Firms that were planning joint operations were also shafted in many cases.

In China even a comment or an action from a single individual can be seen to represent an entire nation. In Norwegian mindset individuals make their decisions and it is not government’s position to comment on the actions of individual bodies. For Chinese that could be understood but not taking a stand against those views and apologizing if you feel the decision was incorrect cannot. Failure to do so will be seen as citing with those making the initial statement. The Chinese mindset that internal issues are internal issues is also not just a feeling of the leading regime.

Couple this with the fact that any direct condemnation would reflect badly on Norway in the rest of the world, and go against the very values that it has, this whole equation is hard to solve. While it is said time heals wounds, perception of time differs. Certainly the free trade agreement negotiations are halted for the foreseeable future. Clearly officials are expressing their feelings in private conversations but it remains to be seen what the effect of those discussions is. Some more creative solutions may be called for.

As far as the Chinese ambassador is concerned, he naturally has taken this matter personally. It reflects badly on him back home and can be seen by some as a loss of face. Prior to the clash of ideals, Norway was seen as a wonderful place to and a role model in China. Subsequent events have further eroded that view.

It is not all one-way traffic as well as newspaper Aftenposten wrote last month that Norway is set to use veto to block China from becoming an observer at Arctic Council meetings if the situation does not change.