China has said it has successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) carrying a dummy carrier in the Pacific Ocean.
The ICMB was launched at 08:44 local time (04:44 GMT) on Wednesday and “fell in the expected sea areas”, Beijing’s Defense Ministry said, adding that the test launch was “routine” and part of its “annual training”.
The type of missile and its flight path are still unclear, but Chinese state media said Beijing had “notified the affected countries in advance”.
Analysts say Beijing’s description of the test as “routine” is surprising because the last such test took place in 1980.
China’s nuclear weapons tests often take place at home and it has previously tested ICBMs in the western Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang province.
So this is believed to be the first time since 1980 that it has launched an ICBM into international waters.
“Unless I’m missing something, I think this is the first time this has happened – and been announced – in a long time,” Ankit Panda, a nuclear weapons expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote in X. .
He added that Beijing’s definition of inspections as “routine” and “yearly” is unusual, “as long as they don’t do this kind of thing as a routine or every year”.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense said no damage had been done to its ships as of Wednesday afternoon.
“We will continue to collect and analyze information on the movements of the Chinese military and will take all precautions in monitoring and surveillance,” the department said, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.
The last time China conducted such a test – in May 1980 – an ICBM flew 9,070 kilometers and landed in the Pacific. That test involved 18 Chinese warships and is still considered one of China’s largest military exercises.
“Timing is everything,” wrote Drew Thompson, a visiting scholar at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, in X.
“[China’s] the statement says the launch does not refer to any country, but there is a high level of tension between China and Japan, the Philippines, and ongoing tension with Taiwan.”
“The launch is a powerful symbol intended to intimidate everyone,” he added.
John Ridge, a US-based defense analyst, said China could have carried out the test as a way to “send or signal to the United States”.
Although relations between Beijing and Washington have improved over the past year, China’s growing assertiveness in the region remains a sticking point.
Tensions rose between China and Philithe pines as their ships have repeatedly collided in opposing waters. Last month, Japan fired fighter jets after it accused a Chinese spy plane of violating its airspace, a move it called “absolutely unacceptable”.
Beijing’s claims to sovereign Taiwan have been another source of difficulty.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said earlier on Wednesday that China had been conducting “strong” missile launches and other exercises recently. In the same statement, the department said it had received 23 Chinese military aircraft operating in Taiwan for “long-range missions”.
Beijing regularly sends ships and aircraft into Taiwan’s waters and airspace in what analysts say is a “greyzone warfare” tactic intended to normalize incursions.
In July this year, China suspended its nuclear arms control talks with Washington, in retaliation US continued arms sales to Taiwan.
Last year, China instead of two leaders of the People’s Liberation Army A unit of the Rocket Force – the top division in charge of nuclear weapons – over allegations of corruption.
In a report published last year, the Pentagon estimated that China has more than 500 active nuclear weapons in its arsenal, about 350 are ICBMs.
The report also stated that China will reach more than 1,000 warheads by 2030. Still, that’s a fraction of the more than 5,000 warheads the US and Russia claim to have.
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