China fires ICBM into Pacific Ocean, first such public test in decades, as regional tensions escalate

Hong Kong
CNN
—

China said it successfully fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, a rare public test that comes amid heightened tensions with the United States and its regional allies.

An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) carrying a dummy nuclear warhead was launched at 8:44 a.m. Beijing time and crashed in a designated area on the high seas of the Pacific Ocean, China’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. It did not specify the missile’s flight path or landing site.

The ministry said the launch, carried out by the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Missile Force, was part of its routine annual training and was not directed at any country or target. It comes as China and Russia are conducting joint naval exercises in waters near Japan.

China “informed relevant countries in advance,” the official Xinhua news agency said in a separate report, without specifying who it informed.

The launch “effectively tested the performance of weapons and equipment as well as the training level of troops, and achieved the expected goals,” Xinhua reported.

This is the first time in more than four decades that China has publicly announced an ICBM test in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1980, China celebrated the successful test of its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the DF-5. Launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwest of the country, the missile traveled more than 8,000 kilometers across the South Pacific.

Since then, China has quietly conducted new ICBM tests. Most have taken place over its own territory, with many tests taking place in the deserts of the country’s far west.

In December 2013, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson was asked at a regular press conference about a submarine-launched ICBM test in the Bohai Sea, an inland sea off China’s northeast coast.

“It is normal for China to conduct scientific research experiments on its territory in accordance with the plan,” the spokesperson replied.

China’s Defense Ministry and state media gave few details about the test Wednesday, including what type of ICBM was launched. China’s latest ICBM, known as the DF-41, is said to have an estimated range of 12,000 to 15,000 kilometers and could reach the U.S. mainland.

China’s high-profile test in the Pacific comes amid growing tensions in surrounding waters, from the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait to the South China Sea.

“China is launching a lot of missiles. It’s not announcing a lot. It’s interesting that it’s choosing now,” said Drew Thompson, a senior research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

In recent weeks, Japan has protested incursions into its airspace by Chinese and Russian military aircraft; Chinese and Philippine ships have been involved in multiple collisions near a dangerous new flashpoint; and Taiwan says China has recently conducted intensive missile launches and other military exercises near the self-ruled island.

“It’s a real signal to launch a ballistic missile into the Pacific at a time when China is in conflict with many of its neighbors,” Thompson said. “This launch is a powerful signal that is meant to intimidate everyone.”

Another key question is which countries China notified before the launch, Thompson said.

“There has long been an international norm to notify countries when certain long-range ballistic missiles are launched to avoid any risk of miscalculation,” he said. “China is not a party to any agreement other than a bilateral agreement with Russia.”

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to notify each other of ballistic missile launches beyond their territories, and this decision was extended in 2000.

In 2009, China and Russia signed an agreement to notify each other of imminent ballistic missile launches. The two sides extended the pact for another 10 years after it expired in 2020.

Under Xi Jinping, China has strengthened its nuclear capabilities and reorganized the PLA Rocket Force, an elite branch overseeing the country’s expanding arsenal of nuclear and ballistic missiles.

In recent years, satellite photos have shown the construction of what appear to be hundreds of intercontinental ballistic missile silos in China’s deserts, and the U.S. Defense Department predicts an exponential growth in the number of nuclear warheads in Beijing’s arsenal over the next decade.

China had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads in 2023 and will likely have more than 1,000 by 2030, the Pentagon said in its annual report on Beijing’s military last year.