China Tests Military Strength in the Pacific, Raising Fresh Alarm Over Challenge to the US

A test carried out by China with an intercontinental ballistic missile in the South Pacific has heightened concern among countries in the region and brought the military race in the Asia-Pacific back to the center of debate.

China’s state news agency Xinhua reported that the missile was launched from a nuclear-powered submarine in international waters and carried a dummy warhead. According to the Chinese authorities, the test was successful, while coastal countries had been notified in advance.

There was no shortage of reactions from abroad. Penny Wong, Australia’s foreign minister, described the test as destabilizing for regional security. Japan, meanwhile, urged Beijing to review its approach, while New Zealand expressed concern that the South Pacific must not become a testing ground for weapons with nuclear capability.

According to Chinese military specialists, the missile used in the test is believed to have been the Julang-3 (JL-3), a submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile that is still under development. The missile is expected to have a range of up to 12,000 kilometers and the capacity to carry several nuclear warheads.

Analysts say this weapons system was built to strike strategic targets, including command centers, military bases and critical infrastructure, thereby increasing China’s nuclear deterrence capability. It is also believed that the launch was carried out from a Jin-class (Type 094) nuclear submarine, which can remain underwater for up to 70 days.

China has six submarines of this type at its disposal, which are seen as a key element of its nuclear retaliation strategy. The reason is that they can operate covertly and carry out strikes even if the rest of the military forces were neutralized. This marks the second major test of a Chinese intercontinental missile in the South Pacific in less than a year.

Earlier, in September 2024, Beijing carried out another test with a long-range missile, which ended in a designated area near French Polynesia. It was the first test of its kind in international waters after more than four decades.

According to analysts’ assessments, these moves are linked to China’s effort to test the security architecture in the Pacific, which has for decades been dominated by the United States and its allies. Beijing is seeking to increase its ability to respond to any attack and at the same time expand its military weight in the region, although it continues to declare that it will not be the first party to use nuclear weapons.