China launches first ICBM over the Pacific since 1980

Beijing has said the “routine” test was not directed against any country

Beijing has test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), with the Chinese military calling it part of routine annual training, even though the launch apparently took place over the Pacific Ocean for the first time in over four decades.

According to Chinese officials, the ICBM, equipped with a dummy warhead, was launched from an undisclosed location at 8:44am Wednesday and splashed down in a designated area in international waters. The launch was part of a “routine arrangement in our annual training plan,” said a statement from China's Ministry of National Defense.

Analysts have suggested that the ICBM tested on Wednesday was likely a Dong Feng-41 with an operational range of up to 15,000 kilometers, or its predecessor, the Dong Feng-31.

China regularly tests short- and mid-range rockets within its territory and over waters in the western Pacific as part of its ballistic missile program, but a test that far into international waters is unusual. The last similar launch was believed to be in 1980 when China sent its first developed ICBM, the Dong Feng-5, into the Pacific Ocean.

Based on this NOTAM, I'm not expecting this to have been a DF-5 variant; educated guess that this is the first long-range Pacific test of a DF-31/DF-41 (solid-propellant, road-mobile ICBM). https://t.co/L9QKn56rdZ

— Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) September 25, 2024

“When they haven’t done something for 44 years and then they do it, that’s significant,” James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program, told The Associated Press. “It’s China’s way of telling us, ‘Like you, we’re not ashamed we have nuclear weapons and we’re going to behave like a great nuclear power.’”

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The test has been tracked by several countries, including Japan and the Philippines. Japan's senior government spokesperson, Yoshimasa Hayashi, complained that Tokyo was not informed before the launch.

China's defense ministry stated that the launch was not directed at any specific country or target and was conducted in accordance with international law and practice. Beijing also notified several “concerned” countries in advance, Xinhua reported, without specifying which ones.