PRC Expedition Highlights Growing Importance of Polar Regions

摘要

On November 5, 2007, news sources reported that the People's Republic of China (PRC) was planning to dispatch 189 engineers and scientists from the China Railway Construction Engineering Group (CRCEG), to expand the PRC's Antarctic presence and to build new facilities.rnThe expedition is the PRC's largest such undertaking since 1985 when it established its initial presence on the continent, and is part of the PRC's polar research and development program, dubbed "Panda". The PRC's renewed interest in Antarctica is representative of an emerging trend by a number of nations to develop and expand a strategic presence in the Arctic regions.