Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether bases in the Antarctic belonging to the People's Republic of China have been inspected under the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan, Minister of State for Europe and the Americas at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office: In the past 20 years, China's Great Wall Station, based in the British Antarctic Territory, has been inspected 12 times, including 4 times by the UK, most recently in 2012. Zhongshan, in the Australia Antarctic Territory has been inspected 3 times. Kunlun (established in 2009) and Taishan (established in 2014) have yet to be formally inspected. The conclusion of the most recent inspection to Great Wall station by the UK, Netherlands and Spain, was that the station facilities had been recently expanded and was one of the best equipped in the region, and that there appeared to be scope for more international collaboration on science programmes. China welcomed the inspection and committed to increase scientific collaboration at the station.

Hansard

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