China on Monday conducted a rare test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile in the Pacific Ocean, sparking criticism from New Zealand and Australia for actions that they said threatened peace and stability in the region.
International Reaction
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said China fired the missile on Monday into waters of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, established in 1986 by the Treaty of Rarotonga. China signed protocols II and III of the pact in 1987.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Monday called the test “destabilizing to the region.” The test must be viewed “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 said.
China has been building up its nuclear-powered sub fleet as part of an overall boost to its nuclear forces. The country last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile launched into the Pacific in September 2024, firing a DF-31B nuclear-capable missile from Hainan Island in the South China Sea into the open Pacific near French Polynesia.
Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.
