China conducts rare long-range missile test, rattling US allies

HONG KONG — China tested a long-range ballistic missile in the Pacific Ocean on Monday, state media reported, drawing criticism from U.S. allies concerned about Beijing’s intensifying military activity in the region.

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The missile, which carried a fake warhead, was launched from a nuclear-powered submarine at 12:01 p.m. local time (12:01 a.m. ET), according to Xinhua, China’s official news agency. It “landed precisely in designated waters,” the agency said, without providing details on the location or exact type of projectile.

It is China’s first such test since 2024, when it fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific for the first time in more than four decades.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy said the launch was part of an annual training routine and was not aimed at any specific country or target, Xinhua said. This was also in line with international law and practice and relevant countries were informed in advance, officials said, with China’s Foreign Ministry adding that it hoped countries “would not overinterpret the situation.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her country had been informed in advance of the test, but criticized it as being “destabilizing” for the region.

“Australia has made it clear that this proposal, this proposed test, comes against the backdrop of a rapid military buildup by China, which lacks transparency and assurance about its intentions, as the region expects,” she told reporters during a visit to Fiji, where the two countries signed a major defense alliance as Australia tries to curb Beijing’s influence in the region.

The Japanese government said it was informed by Chinese authorities on Sunday that space debris could fall into its exclusive economic zone, the Kyodo news agency reported, and expressed “serious concerns” about the test.

The missile landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the agency said, citing a government source.

New Zealand described the test as an “unwelcome and concerning development”.

“We, like our other Pacific neighbors, have no interest in China using the South Pacific as a testing site for missile capabilities,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.

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