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Newsweek magazine wrote that Russia and China announced a deepening of scientific cooperation after Chinese researchers visited the Russian Science Center in the Arctic Barentsburg on August 21, which caused concern among NATO countries.
“A senior Chinese official in charge of polar affairs called on China and Russia to strengthen cooperation in the Arctic, including in the field of science, during a visit to the territory of NATO ally Norway,” the US edition of Newsweek published an article on Friday.
It is understood that Ling Tiejun, deputy director of the China Polar Research Center, visited China on August 21, when three Chinese icebreakers had just cruised in the waters near the Arctic. Newsweek said: “This is another signal of China’s growing interest in this increasingly controversial region.”
The US magazine cited the Norwegian website High North News as reporting that Chinese researchers discussed the possibility of joining the research conducted by the Russian research station in Barentsburg, located in the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago.
Plans to open new scientific research base for BRICS countries
In July, Turkish scientists also visited Svalbard, where they discussed plans with the Russian company Trust Arktikugol to open a new research base for the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, independent, China, Robotic Process Automation) and other friendly countries, such as TürkiyeThe new station will be built inside the almost abandoned Russian settlement of Pyramid.
“It could also be seen as a potential challenge to sovereign Norway, which claims full control over scientific research in the archipelago while the (1920) treaty prohibits ‘war purposes,'” we read in Newsweek.
Last month, a US magazine revealed that Chinese scientists were conducting research on military weapons and other projects in Svalbard. The magazine wrote: “One of China’s most important institutions also operates there, claiming to serve the military and cooperating with many units of the People’s Liberation Army of China.”
The Chinese Polar Research Institute has a research station in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, called the Yellow River Station. It opened in 2014 as part of a Norwegian initiative to promote international cooperation in the field of life sciences.
Main image source: Shutterstock
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