China’s navy said it successfully conducted a test missile launch in the Pacific Ocean on Monday, after regional nations warned Beijing was planning to test an intercontinental ballistic missile.
“At 12:01 pm on July 6, a strategic nuclear submarine of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy successfully launched a… strategic missile carrying a training simulation warhead into the relevant high seas of the Pacific Ocean, accurately landing in the designated sea area,” spokesperson Wang Xuemeng said in a statement posted on a navy WeChat account.
Japan said it had strongly urged China to reconsider the test missile launch in the Pacific Ocean.
“We strongly called for a rethink of the ballistic missile test-firing, so that it won’t pose a threat to Japan’s security such as by passing through Japan’s airspace,” according to a joint government statement that was put out prior to the launch.
China’s test-launch of a long-range missile in the South Pacific risks “destabilizing” the region, Australia’s Foreign Minister said on Monday.
“Australia has been clear with China that we regard this as destabilizing to the region,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters.
China confirmed the test hours after Australia signed a landmark defense alliance with its Pacific island neighbor Fiji.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters also voiced deep concern after China test-fired what he described as a “nuclear-capable” long-range missile in the South Pacific.
“The Pacific is an Ocean of Peace and we are deeply concerned by China’s testing of nuclear-capable weapons into the South Pacific,” he said in a statement, adding that the launch “is not consistent with regional stability”. (AFP)
