A Chinese submarine test-fired a “strategic” missile carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean on Monday, Beijing said, drawing immediate condemnation from nations in the region.
China made the rare show of its military might on the same day Australia and Fiji signed a major defense treaty, bolstering their ties as Canberra seeks to outmanoeuvre Beijing in the strategically important South Pacific.
New Zealand described the test as involving a nuclear-capable “long-range ballistic missile”, but China’s defense ministry did not confirm whether an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was used.
Monday’s test followed two years after China’s elite Rocket Force fired an ICBM into the sea near French Polynesia, its first launch of one those missiles over international waters in more than 40 years.
The new test came when a nuclear submarine launched a “strategic missile carrying a training simulation warhead” at 12:01pm (0401 GMT), a Chinese navy statement said, adding it had “accurately land(ed) in the designated sea area.”
“This missile test launch is a routine arrangement of China’s annual military training, and relevant countries were informed in advance,” spokesperson Wang Xuemeng said in the WeChat statement.
But New Zealand’s foreign minister said the launch had been carried out “within hours” of his country being told.
“The Pacific is an Ocean of Peace and we are deeply concerned by China’s testing of nuclear-capable weapons into the South Pacific,” Winston Peters said in a statement, adding that the launch “is not consistent with regional stability.”
Australia also called the launch “destabilizing,” while Japan said it had “expressed serious concerns over China’s increasing military activity.”
Asked about the reactions at a regular press briefing on Monday, China’s ministry of foreign affairs said the launch was “not directed at any specific country or target.”
“Related launch operations were conducted safely, in a standardized manner and professionally. It is hoped that relevant countries will not overinterpret this,” spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters.
Beijing has stepped up its nuclear development and boosted defense spending in recent years.
According to the Pentagon, China held more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and is likely to have more than 1,000 by 2030.
Beijing test-fired the missile on the same day that it began annual joint naval exercises with Russia off Qingdao, a major military port and seaside resort in China’s east.
The two sides plan to conduct “harbor-based planning” such as “exercises in command and tactical coordination,” according to state news agency Xinhua.
“For the next step, the participating warships will proceed to the sea near Qingdao to conduct drills in areas such as joint reconnaissance, air and missile defense, as well as training in the actual use of weapons,” Xinhua said.
Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister and a New Zealand government source told AFP earlier on Monday that China was preparing to test-fire a nuclear-capable missile into the Pacific Ocean.
“Yes, China has briefed me. I was personally called by the Chinese ambassador,” Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said when asked if he had been warned.
After the launch, Foreign Minister Peters said that New Zealand was concerned “this now seems to be a recurring pattern.”
The 2024 ICBM test appeared to be one of China’s advanced Dong Feng-31 missiles, analysts said at the time, a weapon capable of delivering a thermonuclear warhead.
The long-range missile splashed into a patch of ocean long designated a nuclear-free zone under an international treaty.
New Zealand’s Defense Force has privately warned that Beijing’s naval forays and ballistic missile tests would become a “persistent” feature of the Pacific, according to an internal document obtained by AFP last month.
Pacific island nations remain deeply scarred by the nuclear tests that shook the region in the decades following World War II.
China has been seeking to increase its influence there, showering islands with new hospitals, freshly paved roads, and gleaming sports stadiums.