(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Recent video footage from China showed that the eastern nation started to drill a large hole in the Xinjiang region.
According to Breitbart, the hole is 33,000 feet deep and is part of an alleged “research project.”
President Xi Jinping launched the project in 2021 as part of an earth exploration initiative based in the country’s Tarim Basin.
The basin covers an estimated 350,000 square miles. Four different mountain ranges surround the desert dig site: the Tien Shan to the north, Pamirs to the west, Kunlun to the south, and Altun to the east.
Sun Jinsheng, a scientist at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, reported that the drillers delved through more than 10 layers of rock—about 6 miles into the earth.
“Drilling the borehole has two purposes: for scientific exploration and for finding oil and gas,” said Lyu Xiaogang, an official for PetroChina.
“Through drilling this borehole we will strengthen PetroChina’s technology reserve for ultra-deep drilling and build more ultra-deep drilling equipment,” Lyu added.
Twitter users presented several alternative theories:
“Digging a hole to America?” one user asked. “Guess we’re not that different after all…”
Digging a hole to America? Guess we're not all that different after all…
— Mark Springer 🏭🛢️🪙 (@Capitalistbro) June 3, 2023
“They’re trying to meet my dog halfway,” user Andrew suggested.
They’re trying to meet my dog halfway
— Andrew (@FinanceTX) June 3, 2023
“These guys never watched Lord of the Rings,” another user said, referencing the dwarves who unleashed a monster, known as the Balrog, after digging too greedily in their mines.
These guys never watched the Lord of The Rings
— Gabriel Fancher (@AnswerFancher) June 3, 2023
Scientists expect the project to take about 457 days under the oversight of the China National Petroleum Corp.
The place where the dig started has been long regarded as a Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The 2022 human rights report from the U.S. State Department found that the Chinese government perpetrated “genocide and crimes against humanity” against the Uyghur population, along with other ethnic and religious minorities.
Some of the crimes included brutality in the government’s re-education camps, forced labor, intentional exposure to toxic substances, sexual abuse and torture.
The Chinese authorities claimed that the Uyghyrs were under mental distress and required “psychiatric care” in order to subject them to prison and torture.
