China Tests Ballistic Missile in South Pacific

Why it matters locally: The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, headquartered in Hawaii but with significant operational and strategic ties to naval and air assets based in California, would be closely monitoring such developments as part of broader regional security assessments.

A Chinese nuclear-powered submarine launched a long-range ballistic missile in the South Pacific on Monday. The test utilized a dummy warhead. The launch coincided with the signing of a mutual defense treaty between Australia and Fiji. Representatives from both nations finalized the agreement on the same day as the missile test. The missile emerged from the sea during the test, according to photographs released by Xinhua News Agency. Li Xiangchao provided the image credits for the distributed photograph.