BEIJING — China’s military launched a missile from a nuclear submarine into the Pacific Ocean on Monday, according to the country’s state-run media, prompting concern and criticism from several nations in the region.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy fired the missile — fitted with a dummy warhead — into international Pacific waters at 12:01 p.m. local time (0401 GMT), the official Xinhua news agency reported. The missile came down in what Xinhua called “designated waters,” though no specific location was provided.
Xinhua characterized the launch as a “routine arrangement” tied to China’s yearly military training schedule, emphasizing that it was not directed at any particular country or target.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that China had given advance notice of the planned test, but she still labeled the launch as “destabilising” for the broader region.
“Australia has been clear that this proposed test is in the context of a rapid military buildup by China, which is lacking in the transparency and reassurance as to intent that the region expects,” Wong told reporters at a press conference in Suva, the capital of Fiji.
Japan’s government also said it had been notified ahead of the launch and called on China to reconsider. “We expressed our grave concern over the Chinese military’s increased activity,” Tokyo stated. Japanese authorities added that China had separately alerted Japan’s Coast Guard on Sunday about possible falling space debris that could land within Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Japan’s Kyodo news agency later reported, citing a government source, that the missile had landed outside that zone.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters described his country as “deeply concerned” by the test, noting that New Zealand had been informed “within hours” of the launch.
“New Zealand considers this an unwelcome and concerning development. We, like our neighbours in other Pacific countries, have no interest in China using the South Pacific as a testing site for missile capability,” Peters said in a written statement.
China’s most recent intercontinental ballistic missile test before this one took place in 2024 — an uncommon launch that drew international attention to the country’s growing military strength.
