{"id":128739,"date":"2026-01-16T05:02:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T05:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/denmark-dismisses-claims-of-chinese-military-investments-in-greenland-amid-us-takeover-threats\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T05:02:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T05:02:48","slug":"denmark-dismisses-claims-of-chinese-military-investments-in-greenland-amid-us-takeover-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/denmark-dismisses-claims-of-chinese-military-investments-in-greenland-amid-us-takeover-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"Denmark dismisses claims of Chinese military, investments in Greenland amid US takeover threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEIJING, China, Jan 16 \u2014 There are no Chinese warships operating around Greenland and no significant Chinese investments in the region, Denmark\u2019s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, as he countered United States\u2019 threats to seize the Arctic island.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rasmussen, together with Greenland\u2019s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, had an hourlong meeting with US Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House, the first face-to-face meeting between the high-level officials as Washington\u2019s talk of taking full control of Greenland has run high.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great opportunity also for Vivian and I to go up against the narrative, because it is not a true narrative that we have, you know, Chinese warships all around the place,\u201d Rasmussen told reporters after the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to our intelligence, we haven\u2019t had a Chinese warship in Greenland for a decade or so,\u201d he said at a news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no Chinese warships along the coast of Greenland. \u2026 Nor are there any massive Chinese investments in Greenland,\u201d Rasmussen was also quoted by AFP as telling the Danish press after talks with US officials.<\/p>\n

Despite a \u201cfrank and constructive\u201d atmosphere, Rasmussen said that the White House meeting failed to change the US position on Greenland, and that a \u201cfundamental disagreement\u201d persists.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland. We made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom,\u201d he said at the news conference.<\/p>\n

Motzfeldt said they had clearly defined their boundaries, and that from that point, \u201cit will be very good to look forward\u201d.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that China and Russia are seeking to control Greenland when arguing that the US must take over the island for security reasons.<\/p>\n

Protesters with Greenlandic flags attend a \u201cGreenland is for Greenlanders\u201d demonstration in front of the United States embassy in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, on Wednesday. Denmark will immediately beef up its military presence in Greenland, the nation\u2019s Ministry of Defence said just before talks were to start in Washington over US President Donald Trump\u2019s threats to take over the Arctic island. THOMAS TRAASDAHL \/ AFP<\/p>\n

Hours before the high-stakes meeting between US and Danish and Greenlandic officials started, Trump said on social media that the US \u201cneeds Greenland for the purpose of National Security\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added that \u201cNATO should be leading the way for us to get it\u201d, or otherwise Russia or China would \u2014 \u201cAND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!\u201d<\/p>\n

After the talks, Trump again said that Greenland is very important for national security, including that of Denmark.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the problem is there\u2019s not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland, but there\u2019s everything we \u200bcan do,\u201d he told reporters at the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

Days before the Washington meeting, Rasmussen said the US is painting \u201ca false picture of what is happening in Greenland\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking after an extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Policy Committee on Jan 6, the Danish foreign minister said a picture is being painted that there are a lot of Russian and Chinese ships around Greenland, and that China exerts great influence through investments, Greenlandic public broadcaster KNR reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not share this image that Greenland is plastered with Chinese investments,\u201d Rasmussen was quoted as saying in the report.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Foreign Ministry said that Washington should not use other countries as an excuse to pursue its own interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Arctic bears on the common interests of the international community. China\u2019s activities in the Arctic are aimed at promoting the peace, stability and sustainable development of the region. They are in line with the international law,\u201d Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cCountries\u2019 right and freedom to carry out activities in the Arctic in accordance with the law need to be fully respected. The US should not use other countries as a pretext for seeking selfish gains,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

According to the 2025 Chicago Council Survey, conducted between July 18 and 30, more than nine in 10 US citizens opposed using US troops to invade Greenland and make it part of the US.<\/p>\n

For more visit\u00a0China Daily<\/a><\/p>\n

For subscriptions on news from China Daily, or inquiries, please contact China Daily Africa Ltd on +254 20 6920900 or write to enquiries@chinadailyafrica.com<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIJING, China, Jan 16 \u2014 There are no Chinese warships operating around Greenland and no significant Chinese investments in the region, Denmark\u2019s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, as he countered United States\u2019 threats to seize the Arctic island. Rasmussen, together with Greenland\u2019s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, had an hourlong […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}