China's military test-launched a long-range ballistic missile Monday from a nuclear-powered submarine in the South Pacific, a rare move that has drawn criticism from regional nations. The missile, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched at 12:01 p.m., according to the official Xinhua News Agency. This marks the first such test in the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone in decades.
The launch was described by Xinhua as part of routine annual training that complied with international law and practice, and was not directed against any specific country or target. However, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand have voiced concerns.
The New Zealand government stated it was informed of the planned launch hours prior and noted its occurrence within the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, established by the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga, which prohibits nuclear weapons in the region. China ratified protocols in 1987 pledging not to test nuclear weapons within the zone or threaten signatories.
"It appears that despite our long-standing concerns about this type of activity, China carried out the test within hours of informing us," New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters told The Associated Press.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong described the test as "destabilizing to the region." The Japanese Defense Ministry expressed concern over China's increasing military activity and urged Beijing to reconsider its missile testing to avoid posing security risks.
The test occurred on the same day that Australia and Fiji signed a new mutual defense treaty aimed at countering Chinese influence in the Pacific. In 2024, China last conducted a ballistic missile test in the Pacific, firing an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead. Experts at the time viewed that launch, the first since 1980, as an assertion of China’s growing superpower status. China operates a fleet of six ballistic-missile submarines and 59 nuclear-powered attack submarines, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative.