The Chinese government has pressured Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, governor Gustavo Melella for the second time to approve the construction of a naval base at the port in Ushuaia, which most believe provides them the gateway to Antarctica that they have desired for decades. The governor favors Chinese investment in the Tierra del Fuego.
In addition, the base would give China control of the Beagle Channel, which runs through the archipelago between Chile and Argentina. It is one of only three waterways, the Straits of Magellan and the Drake passage being the other two located between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. That control would allow Beijing to monitor communications throughout the hemisphere, "which would amount to a clear and massive interference by the Asian country in international affairs." claimed the French news site Intelligence Online." (behind a paywall). Infobae Argentina has the backstory of the first attempt at a naval base, petrochemical port, and facility.
Ushuaia, Argentina, is the world's southernmost city below the 54th parallel south latitude. Its location and extensive bay support a population of 80,000 with an economy based on Antarctic tourism and light industrial activity. The city is 680 miles from peninsular Antarctica and is known as the largest of five recognized Antarctica gateway cities. The city is 680 miles from the frozen continent and is the beginning and end of cruise liners' trips to the ice wall.
Separately the US Embassy has warned Argentina's national politicians about the security risks for the region with this deal brokered by XI and the governor.
Translated from Spanish by Google.
In an interview with this media, General Laura Richardson, the head of the US Southern Command, warned about Chinese interests in the country. He did so when referring to China'sspace station in the province of Neuquén, which some defense specialists qualify as a military installation for communications monitoring: "I see it this way: they are facilities of an authoritarian government, which does not allow Argentines to access them, except if they visit. What are they up to?" the soldier asked. He said: "They don't have the same concerns as we do in terms of freedom and a free, secure, and prosperous Western Hemisphere. It worries me. And it is run by a state-owned enterprise and the Chinese People's Army. What are they using that for?"Argentine Zero summarizes Intelligence Online's reporting on China's pressure campaign in Argentina.
He also reported that Shuiping Tu, an Argentine-based Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official and representative of the state-owned HydroChina Corp in South America, is leading the negotiations. He also added that Shuiping Tu persuaded the governor of Tierra del Fuego, Gustavo Melella, to change his position on Chinese investment in the province.
In line with this, Alberto Rojas, director of the Observatory of International Affairs of the Finis Terrae University of Chile, added that: “A possible Chinese base in Ushuaia would allow Beijing to have a permanent enclave in the Southern Hemisphere, with projection towards the South Atlantic that, depending on the conditions negotiated with Argentina, it could allow the construction of facilities, as well as the presence of naval units and military contingents in this quadrant”, and he continued, “China could intercept all kinds of regional communications with a clear economic and strategic, in addition to gaining the potential to maintain permanent monitoring of maritime traffic”.
In the current geopolitical context, the presence of a Chinese base in South America could be interpreted as an important strategic move by Beijing. According to Rojas, “the Belt and Road project [BRI] announced by China in 2013 seeks to have a clear projection towards this area of the continent”, and added, “and if this base in Ushuaia materializes, it could become the first of many others, both on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as well as in the area Andean.”
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It may interest you: The United States seeks to supply military weapons to Argentina to counteract Chinese influence in the region.
It appears that Antarctica will share the same fate as greedy interests devastate the polar poles.
Nengye Liu wrote in The Diplomat in 2019 what China’s motivation for exploiting the Antarctic. China signed The Antarctic Treaty decades ago in Madrid, but holes in the agreement could provide the wiggle room needed to exploit resources now that the rest of the world is quickly running out.
This is a legitimate question that perhaps sits at the heart of concerns about China’s “real” interests in Antarctica. China began its first Antarctic expedition in 1983, then gradually expanded its presence in the continent and adjacent waters. So far, China has four Antarctic stations (Great Wall, Zhongshan, Taishan Summer Camp, and Kunlun/Dome A), with a fifth station being built on the Ross Sea Ice Shelf, to be completed in 2022. In addition, China’s second ice-breaker, M/V Xue Long 2 will start its first polar voyage in late 2019.
As the world’s second largest economy, China now naturally has interests in almost every part of the world, be it outer space, the deep seabed, the Arctic, or Antarctica. Chinese interests could combine science, resources (e.g., fisheries or bioprospecting), tourism, shipping, and national pride. Chinese activities in Antarctica in particular seem to be designed to make sure China will not be left out should there be any possible opportunity in Antarctica in the future.
For example, China is paying attention to Antarctic krill, the last untouched marine living resource on the planet. The Chinese catch in Antarctic waters is very low at the moment. However, China sees the potential of krill fisheries under the current management of the Commission for the Conservation of Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and is interested in increasing its krill fishing in the Southern Ocean. This could be the root of the stalemate of the process to establish marine protected areas in Antarctica.
Effectively, that’s meant it’s largely been open season for anyone who’s interested in staking a claim on Antarctica. China, which joined the treaty in 1983, was worrying nations in Antarctica long before the world shut down. As a relative latecomer to the pact, Beijing has invested significantly in research and development on the continent, catching up and even racing ahead of original members such as the United States and Australia. It has built four Antarctic stations in 30 years, and has a fifth station, near the Ross Sea, that will become operable in 2022.
As a result, Australia has grown suspicious of China’s intentions, even though it benefits greatly from Chinese investment in its own Antarctic science program. “China’s interest in Antarctica is not limited to the short term” or “shaped by scientists,” Peter Jennings, the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told us. Instead, he speculates, the country may be laying claim on the continent for resource and military advantages, unlike most of the other Antarctic Treaty members.
Days before some countries reported cutbacks and delays to their Antarctic activities, the Chinese company Shanghai Chonghe Marine Industry ordered the largest Antarctic krill-fishing boat in the world to be completed by 2023. Krill, a small crustacean paramount to the diet of most Antarctic sea creatures and used as oil and feed in China, has experienced a significant population decline in recent years, and an increase in krill fishing is a serious threat to the Antarctic ecosystem. It’s also lucrative: While statistics on China’s fishing initiatives are hard to find, the country’s 2014 krill catch was worth approximately $10 million, and the krill-oil market is expected to be worth more than $400 million by 2025. Last year, the Chinese government announced that it would distribute more than $850 million in subsidies to small companies to process krill products.
Krill is critical for the Antarctic and Sothern Ocean ecosystems.
Antarctic krill provide a vital food source for whales, seals, ice fish, and penguins. These animals depend on eating large quantities of krill for survival in harsh climates.
For their own meals, Antarctic krill eat small plants like phytoplankton, as well as algae under the surface of sea ice.
Krill have the ability to shrink their bodies and undergo long periods of starvation. These adaptations allow them to survive the winter months in the Antarctic.
Krill travel in swarms so dense they can actually be seen from space. And it’s estimated that the total weight of Antarctic krill is more than the weight of all humans on Earth. Pretty impressive for an animal the size of your pinky.
Climate Change
With their large biomass and vertical schools, krill spreads nutrients in the circling ocean currents while consuming the phytoplankton and sequestering it in the deep Southern Ocean.
Under a “business as usual” climate change scenario, future changes in ocean temperature and phytoplankton varied depending on the region and season.
In the mid-low latitudes, our projections showed temperatures warmed towards the limits krill can tolerate. For example, by 2100 the waters during summer around South Georgia island warmed by 1.8℃.
Warming water was often accompanied by decreases in phytoplankton; in the Bellingshausen Sea during summer a 1.7℃ rise halved the available phytoplankton.
However, phytoplankton increased closer to the continent in spring and summer – most dramatically by 175% in the Weddell Sea in spring.
Across all seasons, krill growth habitat remained relatively stable for 85% of the Southern Ocean. But important regional changes still occurred.
Krill growth habitat shifted south as suitable ocean temperatures contracted towards the poles. Combined with changes in phytoplankton distribution, growth habitat improved in spring but deteriorated in summer and autumn.