Greenlanders march across Nuuk against Trump's threat of takeover

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Greenlanders march across Nuuk against Trump's threat of takeover

2026-01-18 14:13 Last Updated At：01-20 00:02

Thousands of Greenlanders, joined by government officials, marched across the capital Nuuk on Saturday to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to take over the territory.

In Nuuk, people began gathering from early afternoon, chanting "Greenland belongs to Greenlanders."

The protest drew broad participation, including Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who waved a Greenlandic flag. Many participants wore caps bearing the words "Make America Go Away."

Before marching to the U.S. consulate in Nuuk, the crowd gathered for a minute of silence.

Then they sang Ayaya songs, a traditional Inuit way of sharing experiences, resolving conflict, and de-escalating tension.

Orla Joelsen who organized the protest said Trump should stop the psychological threats against Greenland.

The psychological impact of Trump's threats is being felt strongly by many there.

"I live in danger. I also don't get so much sleep because in all the news there I see is about Donald Trump wants to buy Greenland, and Greenland is not for sale, and we will never be for sale," said Parnuna Olsen, a protester.

When asked about how she felt in terms of Trump's threat, another protester named Jane said: "Stomachache, nervousness, how this is going to end. Because I know he wants revenge. I don't know any nice words about him."

"I have completely lost for words for what he is doing now. It is just completely insane," said Malik Dolleruk Sehebel, another protester.

Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, with Copenhagen retaining control over defense and foreign policy. The United States maintains a military base on the island.

Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his interest in Greenland, from "buying" the island during his first presidential term, to the current employment of "a range of options" including "utilizing the U.S. military" to seize the autonomous island.

Later in the afternoon, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States will impose 10-percent tariffs on all goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Finland over Greenland issue starting on Feb 1.

Those tariffs would increase to 25 percent on June 1, and would continue until a deal is reached for the United States to purchase Greenland, Trump said on social media.

China achieves large-scale births of cloned yaks

Chinese scientists announced Monday that they have achieved a breakthrough in yak cloning, with 10 cloned calves all naturally delivered in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

These calves, consisting of three black yaks and seven white ones, were born from March 25 to April 5 at a yak breeding and research base in Xizang's Damxung County, all meeting expected standards and steadily gaining weight.

The mass births came after the first cloned yak was born in July 2025, which has grown healthily and weighs about 183 kg now.

The achievement was made using a domestically developed breeding system that combines whole-genome selection with somatic cell cloning, following three years of research by a Chinese scientific team.

"Whole-genome selection can accurately pinpoint excellent genetic loci associated with large body size, fast growth, strong fecundity and disease resistance, high feed conversion efficiency, and tolerance to high-altitude and low-oxygen conditions (cold resistance). On this basis, somatic cell cloning enables 1:1 precise replication of the genotype through asexual rapid propagation (cloning), thereby compressing the breeding cycle to within five years," said Fang Shengguo, a professor at the College of Life Sciences at Zhejiang University and director of the State Conservation Center for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife.

Yak farming is one of the key industries targeted for development in Xizang during the country's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030). Traditional yak breeding has relied on phenotype selection, a process that can take up to 20 years and often leads to declining genetic quality.

Researchers said the new method can shorten the breeding cycle to less than five years by accurately identifying desirable genetic traits such as faster growth, disease resistance, feed efficiency and adaptation to high-altitude, low-oxygen environments, while enabling rapid replication of elite breeding stock.

Experts added that the technology could also support conservation efforts for rare yak genetic resources, including the endangered golden wild yak, whose population in Xizang is estimated at more than 300.

So far, the research team has developed more than 200 cloned embryos of golden wild yaks and hybrid wild-blood yaks, laying the groundwork for future embryo transfer and species recovery programs.