China has built its first new research station in Antarctica since 2018. It is a large construction of five thousand square meters. That appears from satellite images from American think tank CSIS. US analysts fear that China may use the station to eavesdrop on other countries – particularly Australia and New Zealand, with which tensions have risen regularly in recent years.
1Can countries at the South Pole do as they please?
In 1959, in the middle of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union succeeded agreement about Antarctica, to which 56 countries, including the Netherlands, have now joined. The treaty prohibits military activity and instead encourages scientific research. It has also been laid down that research results must be made available to everyone.
“There were already countries that had made a territorial claim to parts of Antarctica,” says glaciologist and NOS weatherman Peter Kuipers Munneke, who himself did research in Antarctica, “such as Chile, Argentina, Norway and England.” In the treaty, the signatories do not waive those claims, which are not recognized by other countries and by the United Nations, but are, as it were, frozen.
It was later added to the treaty that no mining is allowed in and around Antarctica. It is therefore not allowed to search for oil or other raw materials.
The purpose of the treaty is for the continent to remain pristine and peaceful. “Nevertheless, for strategic reasons, many countries want to be present with a research station at the South Pole,” says Kuipers Munneke. “It also allows them to strengthen an existing territorial claim.”
2 Why is China expanding its presence in Antarctica?
That’s not clear. China already had two permanent research stations on the coast of Antarctica, which are within easy reach of two icebreakers, both named Xue Long (Snow Dragon). In addition, China has set up a station and base camp at the highest point of the South Pole, where advanced satellite equipment has been placed.
The new research station is located on Inexpressible Island near the Ross Sea. This puts it within New Zealand’s historic territorial claim and close to the border of Australia’s claim, which covers 42 percent of the continent. The new station is also close to the US research station McMurdo, on Ross Island, which is the largest base in Antarctica.
According to the US think tank CSIS, the new Chinese station has an observatory with a satellite station well positioned to collect intelligence on Australia and New Zealand. It would also collect data on rockets launched from Australia’s new Arnhem Space Centre. Antarctica is very suitable for spy satellites because there is little radiation that can disrupt communication.
In a 2022 report, the Pentagon, the US Department of Defense, writes that the Chinese military uses Antarctica for various purposes. For example, the research stations would also serve as a reception base for the Chinese Beidou navigation satellites, the competitor of the American GPS system.
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“As a superpower, China is becoming more and more like America,” says Frans-Paul van der Putten, an expert on China and geopolitics, which also applies to Chinese activities in Antarctica. “China is doing what the Americans have been doing for a long time. One of those things is building scientific stations at the South Pole.”
3 So China is doing what the West has been doing for a long time?
You could indeed say that. So Western concerns are a bit hypocritical, some analysts say. “You certainly cannot rule out the possibility that China will actually use the new research station to eavesdrop on other countries,” says Van der Putten. “That’s exactly what Americans have been doing for a long time.” Sinologist Ingrid d’Hooghe van Clingendael also sees this. “What China may be up to, other countries are doing as well. China is building a huge capacity, they also want to sit at the table in that area. Nevertheless, China is still striving to comply with the rules.”
China itself has emphatically denied all claims that the research stations are being used for espionage.