A member of the Davis Station in Antarctica, Australia, urgently needs to evacuate due to health reasons. At this time, the “Snow Eagle 301” helicopter of the Chinese Antarctic Expedition team helped.
This is the news released by China’s 37th Antarctic Expedition yesterday (December 24).
International cooperation in Antarctica is invaluable when COVID-19 becomes a global pandemic, the West, including some people in Australia, blame China, leading to subtle changes in the relationship between the two countries, and even the Australian government has adopted some discriminatory practices against Chinese enterprises.
It happened on December 20.
On the same day, “Snow Eagle 301” flew 110 kilometers from Zhongshan Station in Antarctic China to Davis Station in Australia, transporting five Australian aviation ground crews and 558 kilograms of materials from Davis Station to Davis Station Ice Sheet Airport 37 kilometers away.
The cause of the incident was that on December 17, a member of the Davis Station in Australia needed to evacuate due to health reasons. The Australian Antarctic Administration asked China for support – the 37th China Antarctic Expedition, which was on an Antarctic mission, helped.
The Chinese expedition urgently formulated a special assistance plan including command, communication, navigation, flight, support, epidemic prevention, emergency response, etc., and successfully assisted the Australian Davis Station to complete the evacuation of the team on December 20, using the ship-borne helicopter “Snow Dragon 2” Snow Eagle 301.
the Australian team member arrived at Hobart Airport in Australia at Australian Airbus A319, and then began treatment.
Meanwhile, Snow Eagle 301 left Zhongshan Station in the early morning of December 24, overcoming the impact of 30 knots of winds and transferring two members of Davis Station in Australia to Davis Ice Sheet Airport.
They boarded the fixed-wing aircraft (BT-67) sent by the United States. After the American plane took off, Snow Eagle 301 transported five Australian Airlines ground crews and supplies from Davis Station Ice Sheet Airport back to Davis Station.
Kim Ellis, director of the Australian Antarctic Project, said: “Thank you very much to the Antarctic expeditions of China and the United States for being able to adjust their plans and help in a timely manner.”
Ellis added: “The rescue capabilities of all parties, excellent expertise and the synergy of good weather windows allow us to bring patients back from Antarctica to Australia within a week.”
Some commentators believe that the joint help of China and the United States to help the Australian Antarctic expedition team shows a kind of trust and support among researchers from all sides in a hostile and challenging real environment.
Uncle Hai still feels that changes in geopolitical relations should not affect humanitarian relief. The Australian commented that “the countries with scientific research stations in Antarctica have a tradition of mutual assistance, especially in emergencies, and Australia’s recent diplomatic tensions with China do not seem to have affected this.”
At yesterday’s regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spokesman Wang Wenbin also said in response to relevant questions, “The relevant Chinese authorities are actively coordinating with relevant parties to coordinate the rescue plan for the sick in Australia.
China is willing to provide active assistance to this end. We wish the sick people in Australia a speedy recovery.
It is not difficult to see that China has taken into account some normalization plans for future Antarctic cooperation.
And what about the Australian side? Uncle Hay noticed that it was Mr. Kim Ellis who also claimed in January this year that Australia had the right to raid foreign facilities on its “Antarctic Overseas Territories”. At that time, Ellis also made a cover and did not want to disclose whether “China’s scientific research facilities are on the list of raids”.
This is certainly a joke – the international community does not recognize Australia’s sovereignty over the self-proclaimed “overseas territory” in Antarctica at all.
Now, China and the United States have helped Australia transport patients, which is also proved from another perspective – what Ellis said in January this year is nonsense.
It is said that the scientific team members who suddenly fell ill in Australia were not infected with the novel coronavirus in Antarctica. However, there have been recent media reports that 36 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus at the Bernardo Oykins Riquelme base in Antarctica in Chile.
Not kidding—someone already talking about a reality—that nucleic acid testing for animals like penguins, seals, etc. in Antarctica to see if they’ve contracted COVID-19, and disinfect the wild environment, such as disinfecting disinfectant, high temperatures or ultraviolet rays, or burning items that may be contaminated by the virus.
In Uncle Hai’s view, the natural conditions in Antarctica are different from those of other continents. This makes the scientific expedition of the Antarctica necessary to be carried out in a difficult environment, as well as in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
As a result, it also brings more opportunities for cooperation between countries – group heating. In the early days of China’s Antarctic scientific expedition, Australia helped China, and China remembered it. Now, China’s support for Australia should enlighten the future Antarctic cooperation, the global fight against the epidemic and the subsequent economic recovery!
The community of human destiny can be seen in the rescue of Antarctica.
