{"text":[[{"start":9.35,"text":"Greenland’s foreign minister has floated the idea of meeting the US alone without her Danish counterpart, in a sign that American tactics to drive a wedge between Nuuk and Copenhagen could be working."}],[{"start":23.48,"text":"US secretary of state Marco Rubio will meet his Danish and Greenlandic counterparts Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Vivian Motzfeldt next week for the first substantive three-way meeting since President Donald Trump first expressed his desire to buy the vast Arctic island."}],[{"start":42.370000000000005,"text":"Motzfeldt told Danish broadcaster DR on Friday that Greenland should be “at the forefront” of any talks with the US."}],[{"start":50.760000000000005,"text":"“From our side, it is clear that Greenland needs the US, and that the US needs Greenland. That responsibility must be taken seriously . . . What would be wrong with us holding meetings with the US alone?” she said."}],[{"start":66.46000000000001,"text":"Denmark is constitutionally responsible for Greenland’s foreign policy. Danish officials have been concerned that after the US first sought to put pressure on Copenhagen to sell the island, it has since moved on and is trying to deal directly with Nuuk."}],[{"start":83.39000000000001,"text":"Motzfeldt acknowledged next week’s meeting would include Denmark and said she was looking forward to starting “a dialogue with the US”. But she argued Greenland and Denmark “have some common values and policies that both countries stand for” so it should be possible for her to meet on her own with other countries."}],[{"start":105.12000000000002,"text":"She added: “Greenland has been working towards statehood, which would mean we could conduct our own foreign policy. But we have not got there yet. Until then, we have some laws and frameworks that we have to follow.”"}],[{"start":120.66000000000003,"text":"Some Greenlandic politicians have pushed the government to negotiate directly with the US. “People should back off Greenland and say let the Greenlanders talk to the US and let them figure out what they want,” Pele Broberg, head of the main opposition party Naleraq, told Canadian broadcaster CBC."}],[{"start":142.84000000000003,"text":"Their comments came amid a dispute between the Danish and Greenlandic parliaments that also underscored tensions. The foreign affairs committee of each parliament met in a video call on Tuesday that ended in angry disagreement, according to Danish media."}],[{"start":159.82000000000002,"text":"Pipaluk Lynge, head of the Greenlandic foreign affairs committee and a party represented in the government coalition, criticised the Danish parliament for holding discussions about Greenland without its politicians being able to take part."}],[{"start":174.81000000000003,"text":"“It is a neocolonial way of excluding us,” she said on the call, according to DR."}],[{"start":181.05000000000004,"text":"Greenland is a semi-autonomous part of the kingdom of Denmark, which handles some policy areas itself but does not have responsibility for foreign and security policy. Most Greenlanders want independence, but only when its economy is strong enough to survive without Copenhagen’s annual subsidy of about $700mn."}],[{"start":205.45000000000005,"text":"Some US officials believe Washington could offer money directly to Greenlanders to tempt them to form a deeper relationship with America. But Danish and some Greenlandic officials point to Denmark’s generous welfare state, especially on healthcare costs."}],[{"start":229.98000000000005,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1768176824_6852.mp3"}