POLAR POLITICS: China’s Antarctic marine protected area has a Soviet name, with more Russian fingerprints emerging

Daily Maverick · 10/23/2026, 5:30:00 AM

After a decade of blocking marine reserves with Moscow, Beijing seems to have unveiled its own - in a Soviet-named sea. A Daily Maverick investigation uncovers a second Russian connection: a Chinese bid to rewrite the Southern Ocean’s conservation rules, which mirrors changes pushed by Moscow.