CNN – China says it successfully fired an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday (25), a rare public test that analysts said was meant to send a message to the United States (US) and its allies amid heightened regional tensions.
An ICBM carrying a dummy warhead was launched at 8:44 am Beijing time and fell into a designated area in the high seas of the Pacific Ocean, the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a statement. It did not specify the missile’s flight path or landing location.
The Ministry said the launch, by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force, was part of its routine annual training and not directed at any country or target. It comes as China and Russia conduct joint Naval exercises in nearby seas close to Japan.
The launch “effectively tested the performance of weapons and equipment as well as the training level of the troops, and achieved the expected objectives,” State news agency Xinhua said in a separate report, adding that China had “notified relevant countries in advance” of the test.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the US received “some advanced notification” of the test from Beijing, calling it “a step in the right direction to preventing any misperception or miscalculation.”
Wednesday’s launch marks the first time China has tested an ICBM over the Pacific Ocean in more than four decades.
In 1980, China test-fired its first ICBM, the DF-5, into the South Pacific from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country’s northwest, traversing a distance of more than 8,000 km (5,000 miles).
China has quietly conducted more ICBM tests since then, mostly over its own territory, with many landing in the deserts of the far western region of Xinjiang.
Beijing’s test was a message to Washington that “direct intervention in a conflict across the Taiwan Strait would involve the American homeland being vulnerable to attack,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul.
“To US allies in Asia, China’s provocative test, conducted during its expansive regional military exercises, demonstrates its capabilities to fight on multiple fronts simultaneously,” he added.
Over the past weeks, Japan has strongly protested incursions by Chinese and Russian military aircraft into its airspace; Chinese and Philippine vessels have engaged in multiple collisions near a dangerous new flashpoint; and Taiwan says China has recently been conducting intensive missile firing and other military drills near the self-ruled island.
“This is quite a statement to launch a ballistic missile into the Pacific at this time when China is in conflict with many of its neighbours,” Thompson said. “This launch is a powerful signal intended to intimidate everyone.”
Another key question is which countries China notified in advance of the launch, Thompson said.
“There’s a long-standing global norm of notifying countries when certain long-range ballistic missiles are launched to prevent the risk of miscalculation,” he said. “China is not party to any agreement other than a bilateral agreement with Russia.”
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters Wednesday that Tokyo was not notified by Beijing before the launch of the missile, which did not cross Japanese airspace.
The Japan Coast Guard told CNN it was told by China on Monday that “space debris” would fall into three areas – two locations off the Philippine island of Luzon and another in the South Pacific – between 6 am and 12 pm on Wednesday.
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