Australia would be ‘naive’ to think China’s new Antarctic station not for surveillance, analyst says

A Chinese research station under construction in Antarctica is near the US’s McMurdo station, pictured, and close to Australia’s claim. Photograph: Dan Leeth/Alamy

Australia should be concerned about the prospect of China using a new research station in Antarctica to assist surveillance operations in the southern hemisphere, according to national security experts.

Satellite imagery collected by the Washington-based thinktank the Centre for Strategic and International Studies shows construction of the station on Inexpressible Island near the Ross Sea has resumed for the first time since 2018.