China test-launches a ballistic missile in a South Pacific nuclear-free
zone
[July 06, 2026]
By HUIZHONG WU and CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY
BANGKOK (AP) — China’s navy test-launched a long-range ballistic missile
Monday from one of its nuclear-powered submarines in the South Pacific
in a rare move that drew protest and concerns from countries in the
region.
The missile was launched at 12:01 p.m. and carried a dummy warhead,
according the official Xinhua News Agency. China last conducted a
missile test in the Pacific two years ago, then firing an
intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead. That previous
launch in international waters was the first in decades, since 1980.
The launch was part of routine annual training, complied with
international law and practice, and was not directed against any country
or target, according to a short statement from Xinhua, which was
reposted by the Ministry of Defense.
The 2024 launch mirrored testing that the United States does for its own
ballistic missile fleet, and experts then viewed it as an assertion of
China's growing superpower status.
Australia, Japan and New Zealand criticized the launch.
The New Zealand government said it was informed of the planned launch
hours beforehand and noted that the missile was fired into the South
Pacific Nuclear Free Zone.
The nuclear-free zone was established by the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga,
which prohibits nuclear weapons throughout the region. China in 1987
ratified the protocols pledging not to test nuclear weapons within the
zone, or to 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,”
Foreign Minister Winston Peters told The Associated Press in a
statement.
The launch took place the same day Australia and Fiji signed a new
mutual defense treaty that was meant to counter Chinese influence in the
Pacific.
“Australia has been clear with China that we regard this as
destabilizing to the region,” Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong
told reporters in Fiji, in response to the test.
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Japan's Defense Ministry in a statement conveyed its concern about
China’s increasing military activity and asked Beijing to “rethink”
its missile testing so the projectiles would not fly over Japan or
pose other security risks.
“China’s military activities, combined with its lack of
transparency, has become a grave concern for Japan and the
international society,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said
in Japan, citing Beijing's active military activities around Japan
and its increased military spending.
Beijing brushed off the criticism Monday.
“We hope that the relevant countries will avoid overinterpretation,”
a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said.
China maintains a “no first use” of nuclear weapons policy, but is
also actively pursuing nuclear technology and weaponry as part of
its long-term strategy to modernize the People’s Liberation Army.
China has a fleet of six ballistic-missile submarines, and 59
nuclear-powered attack submarines, according to the Nuclear Threat
Initiative, a Washington-based think tank.
In its latest report to Congress on China’s military capabilities,
released late 2025, the Pentagon said China had an estimated
stockpile of around 600 nuclear warheads in 2024, adding that the
PLA remains on track to field more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by
2030.
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Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press
writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Japan, and E. Eduardo Castillo in
Bangkok contributed to this report.
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