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6h ago

China Fires Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile Into Pacific

The launch signals Beijing’s expansion of sea-based nuclear forces, raising regional alarm and spurring calls for clearer test notifications and arms‑control talks.

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Defence Minister Richard Marles has issued a stark warning over a China’s missile test. (AP PHOTO)
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A senior Taiwanese official released an image of the apparent flight path of the Chinese submarine launched ballistic missile, showing the warhead hitting waters near Tuvalu and Nauru.

Overview

  • China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy launched a strategic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine on Monday, July 6, carrying a dummy warhead that Xinhua said landed in designated waters of the Pacific.
  • Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan and the United States publicly protested the test as destabilising and urged greater transparency and routine notification for long-range launches.
  • New Zealand said the missile fell inside the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone created by the Treaty of Rarotonga, a point that has legal and diplomatic sensitivity for Pacific island states.
  • Analysts and some reports suggest the weapon may have been a JL-2 or the longer‑range JL-3, but Beijing has not confirmed the missile type or provided precise splashdown coordinates.
  • The test follows a pattern of recent long-range Chinese launches and is likely to accelerate regional security cooperation and diplomatic pressure for arms‑control measures and clearer notification rules.