NZ sets sights on Antarctica as concern grows over China’s expanding influence
Russia Today: New Zealand is not typically considered a major colonial power, but the country’s recent defense policy statement revealed hidden aspirations of expansion in one geostrategic area in particular: Antarctica.
“It is often not known,” according to New Zealand’s Defense Minister Ron Mark, that its military’s “biggest deployment is to Antarctica, consisting of up to 220 personnel and different airlift platforms.”
Every year, the New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF) supposedly deploys personnel and aircraft to the continent with the aim of helping to “advance globally important research.” Mark made the remarks while unveiling the 2018 Defense Policy Statement in Wellington last July.
In fact, New Zealand troops have been serving in Antarctica for decades. Some personnel now fear they may have cancer due to an American nuclear power plant at McMurdo Station, which began to leak, killing US servicemen some time later. New Zealand troops continue to serve in McMurdo Station to this day, which is the hub of United States’ scientific activity in Antarctica, playing host to more than 1,000 scientists and support personnel during the summer season. Earlier this year, most experienced NZDF drivers headed to Antarctica to haul 12 months of supplies, construction material, scientific equipment, vehicles, general supplies, and maintenance equipment. New Zealand isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, as it looks to set up shop on the continent for years to come. Even those of you based in New Zealand must be wondering why this is hardly ever spoken about, even as the previous 2016 White Paper on Defense stated that it “is a fundamental duty of any New Zealand government to protect the country’s people and its resources [and] to maintain New Zealand’s right of sovereignty in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica.”