China’s ballistic missile launch was a message for the U.S.
BANGKOK (AP) — China launched a ballistic missile Monday’s test in the South Pacific Ocean was a rare test of a nuclear-capable weapon system that drew international criticism.
The People’s Liberation Army test, which came two years after a similar missile was launched in international waters in the Pacific, attracted the attention of small island nations whose leaders are increasingly urging larger countries to stop using the vast ocean region for power struggles. But experts say Beijing’s message is largely aimed at one country: the United States.
“The most important message is that the PLA has become a strong military with a very strong strategic nuclear capability,” said Tong Zhao, senior fellow at the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank.
The test, launched from a nuclear-powered submarine, was a demonstration of the at-sea leg of China’s nuclear triad capability, which refers to the ability to have land-, sea- and air-based nuclear systems.
It also shows that the Chinese military has what is called a second-strike capability, said Dominic Meagher, a research fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy in Australia. This means that even if China is attacked first, it still has the ability to strike back, because the firing capability could be anywhere in the ocean or on land.
Beijing said the launch was part of annual exercises and suggested it could carry out similar launches in the future.
“I see this as a systematic movement, not an isolated incident,” K. Tristan Tang, Resident Researcher at the National Bureau of Asian Research, said in emailed comments.
The missile tests come as China races to build more nuclear-powered submarines. China has been building such submarines faster than the United States in the past five years, according to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank.
For countries in the Pacific, launch reminds of grim nuclear history
However, the use of international waters, especially waters protected by agreements, nuclear tests are prohibitedIt became the target of criticism from regional countries. The waters of the South Pacific Ocean are controversial because they are strategically important and rich in fisheries and minerals.
For Pacific countries, nuclear tests are especially reminiscent of historical harms. USA, UK and France all have detonated nuclear warheads In the Pacific, it causes environmental pollution and health problems such as cancer and birth defects; some island nations continue to record this even generations later.
“These tests resulted in outrage and agreements to prevent future tests, including the nuclear test ban treaty and the Rarotonga Treaty,” Meagher said. “Such missile tests have not been conducted since then.”
On Monday, the missile crashed in the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, established by the 1986 Rarotonga treaty that banned nuclear weapons throughout the region. China approved protocols in 1987 that prohibit the testing of nuclear weapons in the region or threaten to use nuclear weapons against signatories with territory in the region.
“China is a good friend of the Solomon Islands, but this is not something a friend would do. This… is not good in our region,” Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale told reporters in Solomon’s capital Honiara on Tuesday. he said.
Meagher said U.S. forces are staying away from the treaty area while continuing to conduct nuclear missile tests in the Pacific.
Other leaders say Beijing carried out testing quickly
Australia and New Zealand both said They were not informed sufficiently in advance about Testing and other countries such as Japan have said this was done without transparency. Canberra and Wellington are two of the South Pacific’s biggest powers and are concerned about Beijing’s efforts to dominate the region.
Bilateral agreements between China and the leaders of small Pacific nations have prompted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to embark on his own charm offensive. This includes signed defense and security agreements Vanuatu, Fiji And Papua New Guinea last year.
On Tuesday, Albanese told reporters in Honiara, where he was holding talks with officials, that he described the missile launch as “a provocative action by China that is destabilizing the region.” Australia and Solomon Islands are in the process of negotiating a comprehensive agreement.
“The fact that this testing was carried out yesterday with so little warning is truly concerning,” he added.
China defended its actions and said it had notified countries in the region. “China informed relevant countries in advance, which shows that the Chinese military is open and transparent,” according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense released Tuesday.
If there is a standard, experts say, it would be the Hague Code of Conduct, which sets out regulations for ballistic missiles and their use. It expects states to provide at least 24 hours’ notice, but the law is not legally binding. Additionally, Tang said China is not a member of the Hague Code of Conduct.
There is a lot of speculation about what was fired and when.
The People’s Liberation Army is known to have released little information publicly, but the secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council said on Wednesday that it was a JL-2 missile launched from waters off Guangdong, a southern Chinese province. JL-2 is an old ballistic missile for submarines.
On the other hand, Chinese state media told experts that it was probably a JL-3 with a longer range than the JL-2. “The range of the JL-3 can hit a target on the east side of the Pacific from the west side,” Shao Yonglin, a military expert, said in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV.
As China becomes a major military power, it should expect greater international scrutiny. Nuclear expert Zhao said, “If China wants to become a major military power, it should be held to the same standards as countries such as the USA, England and France.”
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AP writer Charlotte Graham-McLay contributed to this report from Wellington.
