China launches intercontinental missile into Pacific in rare test

China said it test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday, firing it into the Pacific Ocean in its first such exercise in decades.

Beijing has stepped up its nuclear development and boosted defense spending in recent years, with the Pentagon last October warning China was developing its arsenal more quickly than the United States had anticipated.

China held more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and is likely to have more than 1,000 by 2030, it said.

On Wednesday, the Chinese military's Rocket Force "launched an ICBM... carrying a dummy warhead to the high seas in the Pacific Ocean at 08:44 on September 25, and the missile fell into expected sea areas", the defense ministry said in a statement.

"This is extremely unusual and likely the first time in decades that we've seen a test like this," said Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"(The test) likely speaks to China's ongoing nuclear modernisation manifesting in new requirements for testing," he added.

China's defense ministry, however, called the firing a "routine arrangement in our annual training plan".

"It is in line with international law and international practice and is not directed against any country or target," it said.

Beijing first test-fired an ICBM into the South Pacific in the 1980s.

But since then, Panda told AFP, it has typically conducted such tests in its own airspace.

In 2021, the U.S. said it was "very concerned" about reported hypersonic missile testing by China.

  Third-largest stockpile 

The United States and China in November held rare talks on nuclear arms control, part of a bid to ease mistrust ahead...