China to develop 10,000 feet underwater lab in South China Sea

Asia-Pacific, News June 9, 2016 , by IRIA No Comments

China is speeding up efforts to design and build a deep-sea platform to explore undiscovered sea treasures. The sea lab below South China Sea may also serve for military purposes.

China has spent hundreds of billions of dollars for a planned deep-sea platform in disputed waters near the Spratly Islands.

The “oceanic space station” will be located 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) below the surface of the South China Sea, according to a recent Science Ministry presentation.

A Chinese Science Ministry presentation revealed that authorities are keen on boosting the design and development process for the deep-sea lab. The project was already a priority for China, but authorities have now decided to accelerate their efforts.

“Having this kind of long-term inhabited station has not been attempted this deep, but it is certainly possible,” said Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “Manned submersibles have gone to those depths for almost 50 years. The challenge is operating it for months at a time.”

The submerged deep-sea platform is considered to be a high-priority project for the Chinese government and was found to rank second on a list of the country’s top 100 science and technology innovative undertakings, the Bloomberg reported.

“The deep sea contains treasures that remain undiscovered and undeveloped, and in order to obtain these treasures we have to control key technologies in getting into the deep sea, discovering the deep sea, and developing the deep sea,” Xi said last month at a national science conference.

While China’s appetite for natural resources remains the driving force behind the project, the recent ministry presentation noted the platform would be movable, and used for military purposes. China has proposed a network of sensors called the “Underwater Great Wall Project” to help detect U.S. and Russian submarines, say analysts at IHS Jane’s.

“To develop the ocean is an important strategy for the Chinese government, but the deep sea space station is not designed against any country or region,” said Xu Liping, a senior researcher for Southeast Asian affairs at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government-run institute.

“China’s project will be mainly for civil use, but we can’t rule out it will carry some military functions,” Xu said. “Many countries in the world have been researching these kind of deep water projects and China is just one of those nations.”

China’s other undersea projects

Aside from the underwater “space station,” China has also previously announced its plans on establishing a network of ship and subsurface sensors known as the “Underwater Great Wall.”

According to the South China Morning Post, the project, which was presented at the China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s booth at a public exhibition in China late last year, is intended to become an early warning system to boost the country’s control over the South China Sea.