CHINA has launched a nuclear-capable missile into the Pacific Ocean, the first test in 40 years in a major warning to the West.
The ICBM was launched by the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force and carried a dummy warhead, China said.
ReutersMilitary vehicles carrying DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles in a Beijing parade[/caption]
APSpectators wave Chinese flags near DF-41 nuclear ballistic missiles[/caption]
Ministry of National Defence of The People’s Republic of ChinaChinese President Xi Jinping reviews a naval parade in the South China Sea.[/caption]
The test was held just before 2am Wednesday morning UK time.
The Chinese defence ministry said in a statement the rocket “fell into expected sea areas,” and that it was a “routine arrangement in our annual training plan”.
It said the test was not directed at any country or target.
China “informed the countries concerned in advance,” and said it fell into the “high seas of the Pacific Ocean”, a media report also claimed.
A Japan Coast Guard official said it had received a navigation warning from China on Monday for “space debris”.
The warning identified three zones in the South China Sea, the Pacific north of the Philippines’ Luzon island, and in the South Pacific.
The test comes as tensions with the West have spiked in the South China Sea as Chinese Coast Guard vessels have rammed Filipino boats.
World leaders are also gathering in New York for the UN General Assembly where diplomacy is high on agendas.
It is rare for China to fire long-range missiles into the sea usually using isolated provinces such as Inner Mongolia as test sites.
Singapore-based security analyst Alexander Neill told Reuters that although confirmed details of the missile used were not yet clear, the test fit a pattern of China simultaneously “engaging and warning”.
Neill noted improved military diplomacy between Beijing and Washington in recent months as the superpowers have slightly repaired their relationship.
Neill said that given recent corruption scandals within the Rocket Force, it was important for China to display that it was “business as usual” at the highest military level.
He said: “This move is designed to show in clear terms that the means of delivering its strategic deterrent is still functioning.”
OSINT accounts online claimed the missile was launched from Hainan and landed far south of Hawaii and north of French Polynesia.
A launch from Hainan, an island region in southern China, rather than from an inland silo, meant it was most likely a test of its growing number of road-mobile long-range missiles.
The test comes days after an Elon Musk Space-X-style rocket exploded during a botched landing.
Stunning footage shows the rocket trying dramatically trying land in a vertical position but blowing up as the landing systems failed and the thrusters stopped working at the last second.
China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads in its arsenal, of which approximately 350 are ICBMs, and will probably have over 1,000 warheads by 2030, the Pentagon estimated last year.
AP:Associated PressChina’s neighbour and ally North Korea is aslo known to threaten the West with missile tests[/caption]