50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 855 The Treaty from 60 Years Ago

The research town of Ny-Ålesund is currently at its busiest time of year, as it houses research stations from multiple countries and also has an airport.

After approaching the town, Sun Zhiwei put away his polar vehicle, picked up a large backpack again, and began walking towards the town.

In the Longyearbyen Museum in Svalbard, there is a yellowed piece of paper with Chinese characters printed on it, which is the famous Svalbard Treaty.

On June 17, 1596, Dutch explorer Barents discovered some small islands while sailing in the Arctic Ocean, and named them Svalbard.

Barentsz died at sea before he could announce it to the outside world.

According to international conventions, jurisdiction over newly discovered archipelagos belongs first to the discovering country, and secondly to the country closest to the new islands. Therefore, Svalbard should belong to Norway, the closest country.

However, after further surveys, it was discovered that Svalbard has abundant coal resources and a superior geographical location suitable for conducting scientific research in the Arctic.

Other countries naturally wanted a piece of the pie, so Britain, France, the United States and other countries joined forces to "visit" Norway. Norway eventually "invited" other countries to explore together, citing "insufficient manpower and financial difficulties".

On February 9, 1920, 18 countries signed the Treaty of Svalbard.

The contract stipulates that participating countries can enjoy the rights to exploit and explore the archipelago, and that countries not covered by the contract are not allowed to participate.

In 1925, in order to increase its own interests, France wanted to bring more countries into the Svalbard Treaty and then transfer the rights to France. At that time, Duan Qirui, the Beiyang warlord of the Republic of China, naturally received an invitation.

At the time, Duan Qirui's subordinates advised him not to stir up trouble, because after the Boxer Rebellion and the Twenty-Four Demands, the people were very sensitive to various international treaties, and there was a possibility that someone might launch a malicious attack.

However, Duan Qirui insisted that he had to go, fearing that Western countries had set a trap and could use his refusal to sign the treaty as leverage.

Later, Duan Qirui sent people to sign the Svalbard Treaty, making China one of the second batch of member states to sign the treaty.

At the time, many people thought that Duan Qirui had signed a useless treaty, but 80 years later, this treaty has benefited us immensely.

Because my country is a member state of the Svalbard Treaty, it has the right to conduct scientific research in the Svalbard archipelago.

According to the treaty, any Chinese citizen can freely enter and leave this place, and stay, work, and live indefinitely.

When Sun Zhiwei stepped into the town with his backpack, he realized that it seemed that almost no one in China remembered the contents of the Svalbard Treaty.

It wasn't until 1991, when explorer Gao Dengyi went on a scientific expedition to the Arctic, that he saw the English version of the Svalbard Treaty in a copy of "Arctic Guide" given to him by Professor Y. Ye Xin of the University of Svalbard. This opened the door for China to establish a research station in Svalbard and conduct Arctic scientific expeditions.

China's first Arctic research station, the Arctic Yellow River Station, was established in 2004.

This right is no small matter. The sooner the Arctic research station is established, the better. He is not prepared to wait another 20 years. This time, he will bring back the contents of the Svalbard Treaty.

Ny-Ålesund is a very small research town; you can walk around the whole town in 15 minutes. The buildings are scattered around a main road.

However, despite its small size, the town boasts a number of public buildings. It has everything from a post office and bars to convenience stores, a dock, and an airport. There's even a transparent "glass greenhouse" where hydroponically grown green vegetables thrive.

Because there are so few "villagers," the bars and convenience stores are only open on a regular basis.

Winter is the busiest time of year in town. He activated his spatial detection and found that there were about 100 people in town, many of whom were gathered in bars drinking.

Almost all the people who work and live here are scientists from various countries.

Because there are no conflicts of interest or government officials from various countries, the atmosphere in this small town is exceptionally relaxed, and conflicts between countries are further diminished here.

Sun Zhiwei had been in the wilderness for quite some time without seeing any signs of human habitation. When he discovered a lively bar, he naturally went over for a drink and also asked when the airport would reopen.

Since there's an airport here, he naturally didn't want to travel hundreds of kilometers to Longyearbyen to catch a flight in a blizzard with temperatures below -40 degrees Celsius.

When Sun Zhiwei pushed open the door of the bustling tavern, the wind and snow outside blew in through the open door, and the noisy tavern was immediately filled with curses.

Before Sun Zhiwei could react, the bartender at the door rushed over and closed the door again.

At this moment, the scientists in the tavern finally got a clear look at Sun Zhiwei.

He was wearing heavy winter clothes that wrapped him up completely, with a large backpack on his back, and his body was covered in snow, clearly indicating that he had traveled a long way.

Sun Zhiwei stood at the door without going any further in. Instead, he put down his backpack, took off his snow-covered coat, and removed his hat.

When the people inside saw Sun Zhiwei's black hair, they all looked on with curiosity. After all, this was the Arctic, and no Asian had ever been here before.

"Excuse me, everyone, I'm James Robert from New York, currently on an Arctic expedition. May I come in for a drink?"

"Welcome, sir explorer. Come and have a drink to warm up," an elderly man with white hair greeted Sun Zhiwei.

The bartender handed over a glass of whiskey at the opportune moment, and Sun Zhiwei took the glass and sat down at the bar to chat with the others.

Everyone here is a scientist, and none of them have a degree lower than a master's degree. They are particularly curious about Sun Zhiwei's adventure experience, and many of them come over to talk to him.

Although Sun Zhiwei was not a real explorer, he had traveled to many places around the world over the past few decades. With his knowledge of what he had seen and heard online, it wasn't difficult for him to find stories that interested them.

He quickly blended into the lively atmosphere of the bar, and when everyone was chatting happily, Sun Zhiwei generously treated everyone to a drink.

From them, Sun Zhiwei learned that the airport here does not have regular flights. Researchers from various countries are transported by their own country's planes, and each country is responsible for its own supplies.

As for the supplies in the tavern, they were all transported by the tavern owner from Longyearbyen, a city hundreds of kilometers away.

(End of this chapter)