(Bloomberg) — China said it test launched an intercontinental ballistic missile with “a dummy warhead” into the Pacific Ocean, a rare move that could raise tensions with the US and its allies.
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China’s military said the launch by the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force occurred at 8:44 a.m. on Wednesday. The missile fell into the “expected” area, it added, without saying where that was. ICBMs are designed to carry a nuclear warhead to a target several thousand miles away.
“This test launch is a routine arrangement in our annual training plan,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement on social media. “It is in line with international law and international practice and is not directed against any country or target.”
The launch comes as China and the US deal with a range of lingering tensions. The issues include the status of Taiwan, which China wants to bring under its control and the US has pledged to protect in an invasion.
The PLA Rocket force has come under scrutiny in recent years, with top officials investigated for corruption. US intelligence agencies reportedly believe the sweeping purge came after it emerged that widespread graft undermined President Xi Jinping’s efforts to modernize the armed forces and raised questions about China’s ability to fight a war.
The Pentagon warned last year that China has continued efforts to modernize, diversify and expand its nuclear arsenal. It put the number of operational warheads at about 500 — and more than 1,000 likely by 2030.
“My sense is China’s nuclear modernization has caused a rethink of testing requirements,” said Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “This missile may be part of a newer generation of ICBMs that have has previously never been tested into the Pacific. It’s yet another symptom of the new nuclear age dawning in Asia.”
The test from China comes as US adversaries Russia and North Korea have stepped up their programs to deploy ICBMs that can strike the American mainland.
Last year, North Korea tested its solid-fuel Hwasong-18 ICBM with leader Kim Jong Un on hand. That ICBM flew longer than any of its North Korea’s other long-range missiles and appeared designed to carry a multiple nuclear weapons payload, which increases the chances at least one bomb could slip past interceptors and make its way to a target.
This month, Russia appeared to suffer a setback in its ICBM program when its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile – known in the West as Satan II – experienced a “catastrophic failure” during a test launch, the Guardian newspaper reported. It said satellite imagery showed a crater at a launch site, indicating that it blew up in a silo.
(Updates with more context.)
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