Xue-Long1.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
China is planning to build its own airstrip in Antarctica to facilitate work at the country's four research stations on the continent, according to News 24.
The construction of the airfield is part of the government's efforts to expand the nation's reach through studies done in the remotest locations in the world.
"China has built four Antarctic research stations, but does not have its own fixed-wing airport," according to the Beijing Evening News. Researchers have had to depend on maritime transport, which was "seriously affecting the ability of scientific exploration," added the report.
Officials are said to be eyeing to build the airstrip near the Zhongshan (Sun Yat-Sen) Station, which is on the coast near Larsemann Hills, located southwest of Australia. The station was established in 1989.
No further details such as the facility's runway length and capacity have been revealed.
The Chinese ship Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, will depart on Thursday from Shanghai to Antarctica to conceive and develop plans on the airport. The ship had completed earlier this year the country's 30th voyage to Antarctica, three decades after China's first mission to the continent.
Antarctica has several research facilities set up by about 30 countries, all of whom are signatories of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, a pact aimed at the avoidance of confrontations over territorial disputes on the continent.
Aside from the Zhongshan Station, China has the Taishan Station, the Kunlun Station and the Great Wall Station on the continent. Taishan and Kunlun, established in 2014 and 2009, respectively, have only summer operations. The Great Wall Station, built in 1985, operates permanently.
