U.S. authorities have carried out a first official inspection of a Chinese Antarctic research station in six years, in a sign that America is paying attention to China’s presence in the South Pole, as well as the North.
The inspection tour in mid-January came amid global attention to security in the Arctic, or the North Pole, amid President Donald Trump’s aggressive efforts to acquire Greenland. Trump had pushed to acquire the Danish territory, despite protests from NATO allies, to shore up that frontier of U.S. security.
The tour of bases in Antarctica earlier this month shows U.S. concern is also directed at the South Pole.
“The United States exercises its right to conduct inspections to protect our national security by verifying all parties are adhering to the Antarctic Treaty and its Environmental Protocol, including those provisions prohibiting military uses and mining,” U.S. State Department officials told Newsweek.
Washington is concerned that Beijing is using five research stations it operates there for military as well as for civilian purposes, Alexander B. Gray, a former White House official told Newsweek.
“We have good reason to think that there are bases in the Antarctic that China is militarizing and that they are using PLA and probably MSS personnel that have not been declared, which is a violation of the Antarctic Treaty,” said Gray, referring to the People’s Liberation Army and the Ministry of State Security.
Gray is the CEO of Washington, D.C.-based American Global Strategies and was a deputy assistant to Trump and chief of staff of the National Security Council in his first administration.
U.S. officials confirmed to Newsweek that a trip comprising officials from the State Department, the National Science Foundation and the Defense Department traveled to Antarctica from January 16-20. The goal was to verify that all activity on the ice continent was peaceful, a State Department spokesperson said.
Such inspections are legal under the Antarctic Treaty.
Newsweek has contacted the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.
“The United States pays close attention to all stations in Antarctica and will leverage all available verification and compliance tools in the Antarctic Treaty to help ensure all activity in Antarctica is for peaceful purposes only,” the State Department officials said, speaking on background. “We reaffirm our continuing commitment to cooperate with all countries that share this goal.”
The team inspected Australia’s Davis and Law stations, China’s Zhongshan station, India’s Bharati station, and Russia’s Progress station.
Zhongshan station is China’s second-oldest on the continent. The newest is Qinling Station on Inexpressible Island, which formally opened in 2024.
The U.S. and China each have three permanent stations in Antarctica, while the U.S. has three seasonal stations and China has two. New Zealand and Chinese media have reported that Beijing is planning a sixth station.
The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat in Buenos Aires, Argentina, said it was “not authorized to comment on the Antarctic programs or policies of the member countries.”
The Antarctic Treaty outlines that the continent should be used only for peaceful and scientific purposes.
Australia and New Zealand provided “logistical assistance” for the trip, the State Department said in a press release earlier this month, which noted the trip’s findings would be presented at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Hiroshima, Japan in May.
Update 1/30/26, 9:32 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.