The Bush administration Tuesday defended its new Arctic policy, voicing a willingness to cooperate with other countries to address both the challenges and opportunities in the Arctic.

"States safeguard their national security interests in numerous ways, some on their own, and some in cooperation with others. The United States wants to cooperate with other governments in the Arctic," the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

"The best way to address both the challenges and opportunities of the Arctic is through cooperation. Any U.S. action would respect international law," the statement said.

The comment came a day after President George W. Bush issued a directive staking the U.S. claim to be an Arctic nation with rights to its resources and travel lanes. The directive was viewed as a new U.S. response to growing competition for the resource-rich continent.

In the document, the first U.S. presidential declaration of Arctic policy since 1994, Bush said the United States must spell out its own claims on natural resources and called on defense and homeland security officials to "develop greater capabilities and capacity" in defending U.S. access to Arctic.

"Preserving the rights and duties relating to navigation and over flight in the Arctic region supports our ability to exercise these rights throughout the world, including through strategic straits," he said.

The Arctic Circle holds an estimated 90 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, 1,670 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas and 44 billion barrels of technically recoverable natural gas liquids, according to an assessment released last July by the U.S. Geological Survey.

All the surrounding Arctic states, including the United States, Canada, Russia and the Northern European countries, such as Norway, Finland, Iceland and Sweden, have geared up efforts for territory claims in the continent.

"The new directive is the culmination of an extensive interagency review process undertaken in response to rapid change staking place in the Arctic. The principal drivers of which are climate change, increasing human presence in the region, and the growing demand for Arctic energy deposits and other natural resources," the statement said.

According to the statement, the new U.S. Arctic policy focuses on seven broad areas, namely, national security and homeland security, international governance, extended continental shelf and boundary issues, promotion of international scientific cooperation, maritime transportation, economic issues, including energy resources, and environmental protection and conservation of natural resources.

Source:Xinhua