China Says Missile Landed in Predetermined Pacific Sea Area. Then What Worries it Neighbours?
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China Missile Test: China conducted a rare submarine-launched strategic missile test in the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone, prompting concern from Australia and New Zealand and raising questions over the missile used.
By Pranjal Gupta
New Delhi, July 6: China on Monday successfully conducted a test of its strategic missile from a nuclear submarine into waters of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone. The move was not welcomed by its neighbours, including Australia and New Zealand, as they stressed that conducting nuclear tests in the region is barred by the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga, which China has signed.
China ratified the protocols in 1987, pledging not to test nuclear weapons within the zone or threaten to use them against signatories with territory in the region. "It appears that, despite our long-standing concerns about this type of activity, China carried out the test within hours of informing us," said Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
Chinese PLA (People's Liberation Army) Navy spokesperson Senior Captain Wang Xuemeng shared details of the missile test, saying it accurately landed within the predetermined sea area.
"Senior Captain Wang Xuemeng, spokesperson for the Chinese PLA Navy, stated that at 12:01 on July 6, one strategic nuclear submarine of the Chinese PLA Navy successfully launched a submarine-launched strategic missile carrying a training dummy warhead towards relevant high seas areas of the Pacific Ocean, which accurately landed within the predetermined sea area," the China Navy said.
"This missile test launch is a routine arrangement of the Chinese side's annual military training, and relevant countries have been notified in advance. It complies with international law and international practices and is not targeted at any specific country or target," it added.
What Missile Was It?
The navy did not reveal what kind of missile it tested. A report by CNN claimed that the PLA usually operates two types of submarine-launched ballistic missiles: the JL-2 and the JL-3.
The JL-3 has a long enough range to strike the mainland United States if launched from waters near China, including the South China Sea, according to missile experts, the report added. China's main ballistic missile submarine is the Type 094, also called the Jin-class submarine, and it currently has six of them in service.
China rarely makes its missile tests public. However, according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the JL-3 was first tested in 2018 and then again in 2019.
Australia-Fiji Treaty Against China
Another neighbour angered by Beijing's missile test was Australia, which signed a new mutual defence treaty with Fiji on the same day. The deal is meant to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific.
"Australia has been clear with China that we regard this as destabilising to the region," Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Fiji in response to the test.
(With Agency Inputs)
