[cgbg]

There is an old international treaty that says no one country can claim a planet.

However, no-one should be surprised if China tossed the treaty in the trash, declared Mars their planet, and enforced it with mechanical drones.

All other countries would cry and whine and poop in their Bidet, and that would be that.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

no-one should be surprised if China tossed the treaty in the trash, declared Mars their planet, and enforced it with mechanical drones.

On a planet-wide basis? Yeah, China doesn't have that capacity. Neither does any other nation, including us. Mars will be a free-for-all for quite some time, unless of course we allow the bureaucrats to do to us what other nations can't.