The Multi-leveled Study Of The Antarctic Politics

With the increasing of Antarctic exploration and investigation activities, human deepen the understanding of Antarctica. The economic and strategic value of Antarctica also has become increasingly prominent. The Antarctica political issue has become a hot issue which the political and academic circles at home and abroad pay more attention to in recent years. Antarctic politics is a content-rich field that involves political and legal issues, resources and environment, scientific research, military security and international cooperation fields. It has gone beyond the category of traditional politics.Based on Antarctic Treaty, Antarctic Treaty System is the legal basis and institutional framework of Antarctica politics. Through the early exploration activities, many countries put forward their own claim of sovereignty in Antarctica, while the some countries'claim overlaps with other countries. They debated for a long time on this issue. During 1957 to 1958, ICSU initiated the International Geophysical Year which offered a rare opportunity for resolving the sovereignty dispute over the Antarctic. Through many negotiations,12 countries signed Antarctic Treaty. From then, this legal document becomes the legal basis for planning the Antarctic affairs.Antarctic energy politics is an important content of the Antarctic politics. Antarctica not only abound in mineral and oil resources, but also marine living resources. Because of the harsh Antarctic climate conditions and fragile ecosystems, the exploitation of mineral resources is costly and dangerous at this stage. It will also undermine the unique Antarctic ecosystem meanwhile. At present, the exploitation of Antarctic mineral resources remains in the survey stage. However, with the improvement in mining technology, in the case of without undermining the Antarctic environment, resources exploitation is an important direction for Antarctica future development. Meanwhile, the Southern Ocean is rich in fishery resources, especially the krill and a number of rare fish species, such as the Patagonian Toothfish. Although the Antarctic Treaty System introduced the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, as a result of the weak enforcement, the illegal fishing activities are still very serious.The Antarctic environment has an important influence on the global climate change, so the Antarctic environment is increasingly becoming the focus of the international community. The Antarctic environmental issue has become one of the most important topics of Antarctic politics. The most of the legal documents of the Antarctic Treaty System are about the Antarctic environment and the Antarctic ecological balance. However, Antarctic Environmental Protection still faces the growing challenges. Because the Antarctica's unique geographical environment and political status, Antarctic environmental protection has not only an environmental issue, but also a political issue.The distinctiveness of Antarctic politics is also reflected in the perfect combination of science and politics. Traditional International Politics theories rarely study the relationship between science and politics, but the basic law of Antarctica, Antarctic Treaty pursue one of the two goals is the freedom of scientific research in Antarctica. Science is equal importance with peace and security in Antarctica. In Antarctic politics, the importance of science is mainly embodied in two aspects:first, science played an important role in the formation of Antarctic Treaty; secondly, through the establishment of the Antarctic research station, countries can achieve the soft control of the important region of the Antarctica.Antarctica locates in the southernmost tip of the earth, and its geo-strategic location is very important. Although Antarctic Treaty provides for the demilitarized principle of the Antarctica, with the continuous depletion of global resources and the discovering of Antarctic resources, countries will start a new round of the Antarctic resource battle. From this perspective, concerning about the geo-strategic value of Antarctica and the real challenge of the Antarctic demilitarization has the important practical and strategic significance.As an emerging area of international politics, Antarctic politics can not be independent of the contemporary international political order. The relationship between the Antarctic politics and the contemporary international order are very close. The Antarctic politics often contact and interact with the actors of international politics. As the largest international intergovernmental organizations, the United Nations has been very concerned about the Question of Antarctica. In the 1980s, the United Nations has placed this topic upon the United Nations General Assembly's agenda. In the process of the interaction with the United Nations, Antarctic Treaty System is continuously improved and consolidated. At the same time, the other major forces of international politics, the non-governmental organizations, and a large number of developing countries are also actively involved in the political process of Antarctica. Their involvement in Antarctic affairs has great influence on the development of the Antarctic politics.Although Antarctica is far away from China, it has great impact on economic and social development of China. As the world's largest developing country, China has the responsibilities to maintain the peace of Antarctica and promote the international Antarctic scientific cooperation. Therefore, China actively involved in the Antarctic scientific research and the discussion of political issues of Antarctica.