JULY 7, 2026
China test-fires submarine-launched ballistic missile into South Pacific, drawing regional protests
China's navy launched a long-range ballistic missile carrying a dummy warhead from a nuclear-powered submarine into the South Pacific on Monday at 12:01 p.m. local time. Beijing described the test as part of routine annual training, conducted in accordance with international law, and not directed at any country or target. Australia, Japan, and New Zealand each criticized the launch, while the United States expressed concern about China's nuclear buildup.
China's People's Liberation Army Navy fired a ballistic missile from a Type 094 Jin-class nuclear-powered submarine on Monday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, which was reposted by China's Ministry of Defense. The missile, carrying a dummy warhead, landed in a designated area of the South Pacific Ocean. It was the first such publicly acknowledged submarine-launched test since 2024, when China also fired an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead — the first Pacific ICBM test since 1980.
The launch drew immediate criticism from Pacific nations. New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters said his government was informed only hours beforehand and noted the missile landed within the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, established by the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga — a treaty China ratified in 1987, pledging not to test nuclear weapons within the zone. New Zealand stopped short of accusing China of violating the treaty, as the missile carried no nuclear warhead, but called the test inconsistent with the spirit of maintaining a nuclear-free Pacific. Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said China had informed Canberra ahead of the test but described the launch as "destabilizing to the region" and lacking in "transparency and reassurance as to intent." Japan's cabinet issued a joint statement expressing "serious concern" and urging China to reconsider actions that could pose security risks to Japan.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the launch was "safe, standard and professional" and urged other countries not to "read too much into it." U.S. State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott said Beijing's "rapid and opaque nuclear weapons buildup is of great concern to the region and the world," and called on China to engage in meaningful arms control discussions and establish a regularized notification arrangement for missile launches — noting that allied nations received advance notification, but the United States did not.