Bering Strait Expert: Bering Strait Tunnel Will ‘Create New Infrastructure on a Global Scale’
By: Richard Freeman and Fyodor Soloview
Date: June 10, 2026
Source: Executive Intelligence Review News Service (EIRNS)
June 10, 2026 (EIRNS) — Fyodor Soloview,
the founder and President of InterBering, LLC, a consulting group
that strongly advocates the construction of the Bering Strait
tunnel, told EIR in a June 9 interview that the Chinese are
interested in the Bering Strait tunnel, and that China's volume
of goods shipment could be essential for the tunnel project's
success.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)
and special presidential representative for investment and economic
cooperation with foreign countries, stated June 5 at the St.
Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) that he believes that
"China could join the [Bering Strait] project."
Soloview told EIR that the "initial cargo traffic between Russia
and the United States is not enough to sustain the cost of building
the tunnel. But China could have a lot of cargo that goes to the
United States, some of which goes by ship. Not only Chinese goods,
but China can ship goods from South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, etc. Shipping goods by rail rather
than ship traffic would be a cheaper means for those countries."
A logical gathering point for that cargo, Soloview said, is Harbin,
the industrial hub of China's far-northeastern Heilongjiang
province. One place that the cargo from China and other countries
could cross into Russia would be at Heihe, China, which is across
the Amur River (called the Heilongjiang River in China) from the
Russian city of Blagoveshchensk. In 2022, the Russians and Chinese
built a highway bridge connecting Heihe and Blagoveshchensk. They
also built a railway bridge across a different portion of the Amur
River connecting Nizhneleninskoye in Russia's Jewish Autonomous
Oblast with Tongjiang in China's Heilongjiang province. Soloview
identified other additional places where Chinese cargo could pass
into Russia, such as through Dzhalinda.
Soloview pointed out that the Chinese are building a high-speed rail
line from Harbin, China to Yichun, China. This is a 318-kilometer
(200-mile) high-speed line in which train units can travel at
250 km/h (155 mph), which is scheduled to open in the latter
portion of 2026. It will carry passengers, but a similar line for
freight can be conceived. The winter temperature in Harbin is very
cold: from -20°C to -30°C (-4°F to -22°F).
"The Chinese can build with the Russians, or if asked, by
themselves, high-speed freight rail along the road to the Bering
Strait. They're very good. They build a large portion of their
high-speed rail network on elevated concrete structures rather than
on the ground," Soloview said. He added, "they have the dollars to
invest." This is Soloview's assessment.
On June 8, the
Russian RTVI publication
carried an opinion editorial from Soloview in which he stated that
the estimate of the cost of $8 billion to build the Bering Strait
tunnel and rail connection could be understated, and likely may be
at least $35 billion, and possibly $60 billion.
He mentioned the tunnel project's benefits to Russia, the United
States, and China. But in this piece, Soloview, who is based in
Anchorage, Alaska, emphasized his main contention:
"However, in my opinion, the most interesting effect lies not in
the benefit to any one country, but in the creation of new
infrastructure on a global scale. History shows that the
construction of major transport systems benefits not only investors
or countries, but also entire regions, which gain access to new
markets, investments, and development opportunities. This was the
case with the construction of the transcontinental railways in the
United States, the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia, the Suez
Canal, and the Channel Tunnel."
Editor's Note:
This EIR News Service article summarizes Fyodor Soloview's June 9,
2026 interview regarding the potential participation of China in a
future Bering Strait tunnel and railway project. The article
highlights the strategic importance of Chinese freight traffic,
existing Russia-China transportation links, and the broader concept
of creating new intercontinental infrastructure connecting Eurasia
and North America through the Bering Strait.
