China’s navy launched a long-range ballistic missile from one of its nuclear-powered submarines in the South Pacific on Monday, a rare move that triggered protests and alarm from several countries in the region.
According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, the missile lifted off at 12:01 p.m. and carried a simulated warhead. It was the second such test China has conducted in the Pacific in recent years — the country previously fired an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead two years ago, which itself was the first such test in international waters since 1980.
China’s Ministry of Defense, through a statement reposted from Xinhua, described the launch as part of routine annual training that followed international law and was not aimed at any specific nation or target.
Analysts noted that the 2024 launch mirrored similar ballistic missile testing carried out by the United States for its own submarine fleet, viewing it as a signal of China’s growing ambitions as a global superpower.
Australia, Japan, and New Zealand all spoke out against the test. The New Zealand government said it received advance notice of the launch only hours before it took place and pointed out that the missile was fired into the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone — a region protected under the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga, which bans nuclear weapons throughout the area. China ratified the treaty’s protocols in 1987, committing not to test nuclear weapons within the zone or threaten its use against member nations with territory there.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters issued a pointed response, telling The Associated Press: “It appears that despite our long-standing concerns about this type of activity, China carried out the test within hours of informing us.”
The launch happened on the same day Australia and Fiji signed a new mutual defense agreement designed to push back against Chinese influence in the Pacific. Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, speaking to reporters in Fiji, said: “Australia has been clear with China that we regard this as destabilizing to the region.”
Japan’s Defense Ministry called on Beijing to reconsider its missile testing practices to prevent projectiles from flying over Japan or creating other security risks. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara stated: “China’s military activities, combined with its lack of transparency, has become a grave concern for Japan and the international society,” pointing to Beijing’s heightened military presence near Japan and its growing defense budget.
China’s government dismissed the criticism, with a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson saying: “We hope that the relevant countries will avoid overinterpretation.”
China officially maintains a policy of not being the first to use nuclear weapons, but it continues to invest heavily in nuclear technology and weapons as part of a broader effort to modernize its military forces.
According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based think tank, China operates a fleet of six ballistic-missile submarines along with 59 nuclear-powered attack submarines. A Pentagon report to Congress released in late 2025 estimated that China held approximately 600 nuclear warheads in 2024, with projections showing the country on pace to surpass 1,000 warheads by 2030.
