Acting out of the Greenland farce is worrying

Following the incoming US leader once again showing his interest in the United States "taking" Greenland via exerting economic pressure on Denmark, Copenhagen has reportedly proposed that the US boost security in Greenland, including increasing the US military presence on the island, in its private messages to the US president-elect's team.

Reportedly, the Danish government wants to dissuade the incoming US administration from seizing the island, which covers an area of 2.17 million square kilometers, three times as large as Texas, with a population of 56,860 by making the offer.

But Greenland has not seen any imminent security threat in history, particularly since it became an autonomous region of Denmark in 1979 after being under the country's control for about 300 years, except global warming's threat to its biosecurity in recent years.

Although Denmark's offer is apparently intended to serve as a face-saving move to both sides avoiding a political clash, it represents a compromise on the Danish side. Calling on the US to strengthen its protection of the island after the incoming US leader newly warned all allies that the US' protection has an inflated price tag means Copenhagen is technically offering to "buy" the US side temporarily suppressing its coveting of Greenland.

Although 81 percent of Greenland is covered with ice and classified as uninhabitable, its strategic position in the Arctic, its sizable untapped mineral reserves, and its rich fishing resources all make the island an arena for the geopolitical game among major countries.

Greenland is assuming increasing strategic importance as the melting of the ice cap within the Arctic circle dramatically accelerates as a result of global warming, which will put Greenland at the crossroad of an emerging global maritime logistics hub.

It is these factors — along with some local residents' long-term pro-independence stance — rather than the limited protection fee Copenhagen tries to offer that attract the US. So the incoming US administration will not be satisfied with Copenhagen's offer.

Interestingly, Greenland had not become a focus between the two sides before the incoming US leader touched upon the topic in a recent news conference at his private property. Denmark's recession makes it look as if the North European country has been indebted to the US over Greenland. Which is not true.

This is more worrying than the farce over Greenland itself. It seems as long as the US side makes public an intention of "taking" a foreign territory by military means or economic coercion, irrespective of the illegitimacy of so doing, it assumes relevant countries bear a moral duty to help it fulfill the intention at their own cost.

This is nothing but a de facto robbery combining daydream talk, initial trial, effective intimidation and final bargaining process. If that is allowed to become a conventional practice in handling international relations, there will not be any justice, fairness or basic norms in the world order.