China Conducts Its First ICBM Test In Decades
China has reported the successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean.
The Chinese defence ministry said that the ICBM was launched at 08:44 local time on Wednesday and “fell into expected sea areas,” describing the test as “routine” and part of its “annual training.”
While the specific type of missile and its flight path remains unclear, Chinese state media indicated that Beijing had “informed the countries concerned in advance.”
An ICBM is a long-range missile designed to deliver nuclear or conventional warheads over distances typically greater than 5,500 kilometers.
ICBMs can be launched from silos, mobile platforms, or submarines, and follow a high-arcing trajectory that takes them into space before descending towards their target.
According to BBC, typically, China’s nuclear weapon tests occur domestically, with previous ICBM launches directed westward into the Taklamakan Desert in the Xinjiang region.
This launch is believed to mark the first time since 1980 that an ICBM has been fired into international waters.
Ankit Panda, a nuclear weapons specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, commented on X:
Unless I’m missing something, I think this is essentially the first time this has happened – and been announced as such – in a long time.
He added that Beijing’s characterisation of the test as “routine” and “annual” was unusual, “considering that they don’t typically conduct such launches either routinely or annually.”
Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Wednesday that China had provided no prior notice of the ICBM launch.
Japan’s defence ministry had earlier said that there was no damage to its vessels as a result of the incident. It said:
We will continue to collect and analyse information on the movements of the Chinese military and will take all possible precautions in our vigilance and monitoring.
The last time China conducted such a test—in May 1980—the ICBM traveled 9,070 km before landing in the Pacific Ocean. That launch involved 18 Chinese naval ships and remains one of China’s largest naval operations to date.
Drew Thompson, a visiting research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, commented on X:
Timing is everything. [China’s] statement claims the launch does not target any country, but there are high levels of tension between China and Japan, the Philippines, and of course perpetual tension with Taiwan.
The launch is a powerful signal intended to intimidate everyone.
John Ridge, a U.S.-based defense analyst, suggested that China may have conducted the test as a form of “posturing or signaling to the United States.”
Although relations between Beijing and Washington have improved over the past year, China’s growing assertiveness in the region continues to be a contentious issue.
Tensions have escalated between China and the Philippines due to repeated collisions between their ships in disputed waters.
Japan recently scrambled fighter jets in response to a Chinese spy plane allegedly breaching its airspace, which it deemed “utterly unacceptable.”
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