China’s Boomers Under the Ice?

I take a look at some claims regarding China’s deployment of SSBNs to the Arctic:

China’s strategic problem is that its submarines aren’t quiet enough to hide and patrol on their own, but it lacks the geographic security to pursue a true “bastion” strategy. The Arctic can be made inaccessible in a way that the South China Sea simply cannot, and is also less difficult to monitor. At the same time, China has become increasingly interested in the Arctic, mostly for economic reasons. The opening of a “northwest passage” would change the character of global shipping, meaning that at least part of China’s maritime trade would go through the Arctic. While this would not necessarily require the development of an Arctic military presence, it would justify Chinese military interest.