Beijing opens a facility that worries Australia and New Zealand

Official media previously said the Quinling station, which resembles a cross like the Crux constellation or the Southern Cross, will have enough rooms to accommodate up to 80 people during the summer months.

The ice is located on the rocky coast of a nondescript island in the Ross Sea, Kinling It is located near the American McMurdo stationPermanent residence.

China has four research stations elsewhere in Antarctica that were previously built between 1985 and 2014 (Zhongshan, Taishan, Kunlun and the Great Wall), and two of them are year-long stations like Qinling.

Delayed by infection

Construction of Qinling first began in 2018, but the outbreak of COVID-19 delayed its launch. In November, China deployed its largest Antarctic fleet with more than 460 personnel to help complete the station.

Qinling is expected to include an observation center with a satellite ground station and will be well-placed to gather signals intelligence in Australia and New Zealand, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in an April report.

Early photographs of the station did not immediately show the presence of a satellite ground station.

Beijing downplays Australian doubts

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in April that concerns that China might use the station for surveillance from countries such as Australia were unwarranted and that the station was for the peaceful development of the South Pole.

President Xi Jinping praised the opening of the station on Wednesday and praised the station staff “Know, Protect and Make Better Use of the Polar Region” In collaboration with the international community, Xinhua reported.