This may be something that we have not considered in the detail it deserves: China has exploited the ambiguous sovereignty of the Antarctic. It’s establishing a clear record of permanent control and settlement within the Australian Antarctic Territory. There’s barely been a raised eyebrow from Australia and the world. China is planning long term.”
https://www.quora.com/What-will-happen-if-China-decides-to-encroach-into-Australian-waters-and-build-a-massive-island-e-g-to-drill-oil-or-to-take-advantage-of-aquaculture-Will-the-Australian-Navy-stop-them-and-will-it-be-easy-1
“Why is China strategically developing Antactica?
• The Southern Ocean offers three potential alternative shipping routes linking China with the Indian and Atlantic oceans: via South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, via Chile’s Cape Horn, and via Australia’s South East Cape in Tasmania.
• Any state that dominates the airspace of Antarctica—currently, only the US can do so—could potentially control air access to all Oceania, South America and Africa.
• Researchers from the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) estimate that there are 500 billion tons of oil and 300–500 billion tons of natural gas on the Antarctic continent, plus a potential 135 billion tons of oil in the Southern Ocean.
• In 2009, PRIC staff produced a book-length study investigating the full range of Antarctic mineral resources and their legal status, stating that ‘when all the world’s resources have been depleted, Antarctica will be a global treasure house of resources’.
• China’s polar research stations play a crucial role in helping the PLA enhance its command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) system capabilities, missile timing, and missile positioning via the BeiDousatellite system.
• China, like a number of other polar states, is able to make use of the unresolved sovereignty of Antarctica to establish space tracking and ground receiving stations for polar satellites, with global coverage.
• China installed ground satellite receiving and processing stations at both Changcheng and Zhongshan stations in 2010 and at Kunlun Station in early 2013, and completed upgrades to the Zhongshan Station facilities in early 2015. Installing ground receiving stations at these locations greatly increases the positioning accuracy of Chinese satellites as well as China’s Antarctic mapping capacity, both of which are useful for mineral exploration.
• In 2020, BeiDou will achieve full global coverage by using more than 30 orbiting spacecraft. BeiDou-1 had full Asia–Pacific coverage in 2003, while BeiDou-2 rolled out in 2012 with improved capabilities. BeiDou-2 has five open channels and five closed military channels, which makes jamming impossible.
• A further aspect of China’s military-related Antarctic scientific interests is upper atmosphere physics and satellite remote sensing. Remote sensing is used for mineral and oil exploration, marine surveys, military reconnaissance and mapping. China’s Antarctic upper atmosphere physics is also useful for the PLAN’s submarine-related research on sea-ice noise.
• China’s astronomical program at Dome A has direct military applications. Infrared telescopes can be used to search for enemy satellites, drones and launched missiles, and to identify whether they have been shot down when targeted.
• China regards Antarctica as a useful laboratory for preparing for an advanced space program."
Australia is simply too pathetic to defend its territory, quivering in fear at the might of China. What would the ANZACS think?