US leads concern after China fired a long-range missile into Pacific ocean
China has test-fired a missile from a nuclear submarine that landed in “designated waters” in the Pacific Ocean, state news agency Xinhua reports, drawing criticism and concerns from the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The Chinese navy test-launched the long-range ballistic missile at 12:01pm (04:01 GMT) on Monday from one of its nuclear-powered submarines in the South Pacific, Xinhua reported.
Xinhua said the test was a “routine arrangement” of China’s annual military training and was not directed at any specific target.
The US State Department urged China to “engage in meaningful arms control discussions and commit to a regularised notification arrangement for all intercontinental-range ballistic missile and space launches”.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that China had notified the government of plans to conduct a sea-based missile test into the Pacific but said the action was “destabilising” to the region.
“Australia has been clear that this proposed test is in the context of a rapid military build-up by China, which is lacking in the transparency and reassurance as to intent that the region expects,” Wong told reporters at a news conference in the Fijian capital, Suva.
Japan’s government said it was notified of the missile launch and had urged China to reconsider.
“We expressed our grave concern over the Chinese military’s increased activity,” the government said, adding that Japan’s coastguard had been notified on Sunday by Chinese authorities about falling space debris that could fall within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
The New Zealand government said it was informed of the planned launch within hours of it taking place.
“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,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
China was just celebrating the US with some fireworks in the part of the ocean called the South China Sea. Australia is mad they dried up too much of the Outback and can't have fireworks because they don't have a sea of their own.