The Chinese military has test-fired a ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine into the Pacific Ocean, sparking swift criticism from regional neighbors including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan.
China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency confirmed that the launch took place at 12:01 local time on Monday. It said the projectile carried a dummy warhead, characterizing the launch as part of "routine annual training" that complied fully with international law and was “not directed against any country or target.”
Beijing added that it had notified relevant countries in advance due to the flight path crossing international boundaries.
While Chinese defense officials withheld the exact model of the weapon, defense analysts speculate it may have been the advanced JL-3 (JuLang-3) submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile.
The Political Timing
Military experts believe the timing is highly calculated, aimed squarely at blocking a pending $14 billion U.S. arms package currently being reviewed for Taiwan.According to Yu, Beijing regularly escalates military maneuvers whenever Washington signals robust backing for Taipei. By acting now, China may be attempting to exploit domestic American politics ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, gambling that the Trump administration will want to avoid overseas volatility during an election cycle.
The launch also serves as a warning to Tokyo amidst icy bilateral relations. Yu said the deployment is designed to increase the geopolitical stakes for Japan, forcing it to reconsider the long-term costs of intervening in any future flashpoint over the Taiwan Strait.
On the other hand, the launch took place just hours after Australia signed a bilateral defense pact with Fiji, committing both nations to mutual aid in the event of an attack.
The regional security alliance is the latest in a series of pacts Canberra has secured with Pacific Island nations—moves widely interpreted as strategic efforts to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
The backlash from neighboring capitals was swift. Pointing to “a recurring pattern by China,” New Zealand’s foreign minister, Winston Peters, said his country was “deeply concerned.”
“New Zealand considers this an unwelcome and concerning development. We, like our neighbors in other Pacific countries, have no interest in China using the South Pacific as a testing site for missile capability,” he said.
Critiquing Beijing's broader strategic ambitions, Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, called the test “destabilizing to the region” and noted that it was “in the context of a rapid military buildup by China, which is lacking in the transparency and reassurance as to intent that the region expects.”
Japan took a similar stance. In a statement released Monday, Tokyo noted it had “conveyed its serious concern regarding the intensification of China’s military activities,” after previously urging Beijing to halt the plans.
China’s launch follows a similar test in 2024, when China fired an ICBM carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean near French Polynesia. That test rattled regional neighbors and marked the first time in over four decades that Beijing had openly declared an ICBM test in the Pacific.
Peters said the Chinese test brought back memories from two years ago: “We as a region should not sit by and allow such tests to become normalized or routine.”