China accelerates construction of new Antarctic station amidst surveillance concerns

China has resumed construction on its fifth Antarctic research station, making "significant progress" since 2018, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The new site could be used to strengthen China's intelligence-gathering capabilities in the area, the report said. While China has stressed its ambitions in the region are purely scientific, its accelerating developments are seen by some in the West as part of a wider effort to strengthen footholds for its military around the globe. The US has three year-round research stations in the Antarctic.