Latest satellite imagery has shown that China has been increasing its footprint in the Antarctic, with construction resuming on its fifth station in the polar region for the first time since 2018.
Expanding Infrastructure
A new report published by Washington D.C.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) found that work to construct China’s fifth facility on Inexpressible Island near the Ross Sea is currently underway.
“After several years of dormancy, new support facilities and groundwork for a larger structure have appeared at the site,” the report said.
The new station’s position, along with China’s other coastal stations, will help fill a significant gap in China’s coverage of the southern polar region’s expansive coastline and beyond.
Once finished, the 5,000 square-metre station is expected to include “a scientific research and observation area, an energy facility, a main building, a logistics facility, and a wharf built for China’s Xuelong icebreakers.”
The latest issue in the CSIS Hidden Reach series examines how China can leverage its growing footprint in the Arctic and Antarctica to advance its strategic and military interests in the world’s most remote frontiers.
— CSIS (@CSIS) April 18, 2023
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Surveillance Fears
Notably, the report raised concerns that China may be able to indulge in surveillance collection with the help of its new station.
“The station’s position may enable it collect signals intelligence from US-allied Australia and New Zealand and could collect telemetry data on rockets launching from newly established space facilities in both countries.”
It added that the station, which will be “replete with antennas and other monitoring equipment,” will possess “the capability to keep a watchful eye on commercial and naval vessels transiting the strategic passage.”
Moreover, recent documents cited by the report hint at China’s plans to expand its Zhongshan Station with additional antennas. Beijing could leverage such assets to collect intelligence on foreign militaries operating in the Indian Ocean, including on the joint US-UK Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia.
“It could also play a support role in monitoring India’s developing naval forces operating in the region,” the report stated.
Recommendations
The think tank recommended that Washington and its allies “carefully monitor China’s evolving activities and push for greater transparency.”
It also urged the US government to “focus on crafting stronger diplomatic and economic partnerships with like-minded countries and strengthening international governance mechanisms” to prevent the “world’s frozen frontiers” from becoming “the next hot spots of geopolitical competition.”