It would be China’s second base on the New Zealand side of Antarctica.
In documents sent to parties to the Antarctic Treaty, including New Zealand, China said that the constructionof the base could mean move visits of Chinese ships to New Zealand ports as they lie between the Port of Shanghai, where the prefabricated base will leave from, and the site of the base at Cox Point, Marie Byrd Land.
Marie Byrd Land is in an unclaimed section of Antarctica adjacent to the section claimed and administered by New Zealand. The Government will have the ability to give feedback on the proposal, but can do nothing to stop it.
It comes at a time when China is expanding its footprint and influence in the South Pacific, inking an agreement with the Cook Islands and sending a flotilla of warships down the coast of Australia.
A paper submitted by China on the environmental impact of the base says it will be feature a 900sq m main building and a 500sq m scientific research centre for 25 researchers and support staff.
The base is intended for research in the summer. It is being built in a way that will allow it to run autonomously during Antarctica’s brutal winter.
China hopes to have the base operational by 2027. If successful, it will be China’s sixth base on the ice.
The documents propose two methods of shipping the base to Antarctica. One involves sending China’s Xuelong and Xuelong-2 icebreakers from the Port of Shanghai “via New Zealand to the waters close to Qinling Station, discharging some personnel and supplies”.
The route the base will take. Map / China CEE
“They will then leave Qinling Station to unload more staff and equipment to the new research outpost in Marie Byrd Land,” the paper said.
Another proposed route would go via the west coast of Australia.
The Antarctic Treaty system gives states the ability to establish research facilities on the ice. But there has been growing concern that facilities may be “dual-use”, having both a research and military purpose.
“We are open, we are transparent, we are ready to co-operate with Australia and many other partners of the Antarctic Treaty to make further efforts in that direction,” he said.
Not everyone agrees. A US Defence Department report from 2022 said China’s increased presence in Antarctica was “likely intended to strengthen its position for future claims to natural resources and maritime access”.
That report raised the issue of dual-use technologies, which can have both scientific and military applications, saying they were likely to be present in China’s strategy for Antarctica.
New Zealand and the United States collaborate on many Antarctic issues, with the US using Christchurch Airport as a base for scientists it sends to the ice. Many New Zealanders, including politicians, hitch a ride to Antarctica on American aircraft, given the patchy reliability of New Zealand’s transport.
A spokesman for the Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said MFAT advice to the minister was that China had submitted a draft environmental impact assessment for a proposed new station.
“The draft proposes that the station would support international research on the atmosphere, glaciers, ice shelves and ocean in West Antarctica in the context of global climate change
“We engage with China on Antarctic issues, as we do with other parties.
“We expect China, as we do all parties, to operate in accordance with the rules and spirit of the Antarctic Treaty System,” he said.
Under the Antarctic Treaty, a country wanting to build something likely to have more than a minor or transitory effect on the environment must submit a Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation (CEE).
A draft CEE needs to be circulated to the parties of the Antarctic Treaty, including New Zealand for comment. It will be considered by the parties at a committee meeting in Italy in June. The parties can then make comments on the plan before a separate Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, which happens at the same time as the committee.
A final CEE must then be published 60 days before the proposed building commences. New Zealand and the other treaty partners do not have a veto right on the base being built.
An MFAT spokesperson told the Herald “New Zealand Government agencies are reviewing the CEE and considering our contribution to the review”.
Thomas Coughlan is deputy political editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the Press Gallery since 2018.
