China launches long-range missile over Pacific
China has test-launched a long-range ballistic missile with a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean, hours after Australia signed a new defence pact with Fiji.
Beijing called it a “routine part of China’s annual military programme”, but the launch angered neighbours including Japan, New Zealand, and Australia.
Canberra accused China of “destabilising” the region, though officials said they do not believe the test was a response to the new security agreement.
Australia has in recent years been racing to strengthen defence ties with its Pacific neighbours to counter growing Chinese influence and military expansion in the region.
Regional leaders voice concern
Beijing informed Canberra of its plans to conduct the missile test just hours beforehand, Defence Minister Richard Marles said at a press conference on Monday.
Marles added that Australia is “very concerned about any actions which undermine the stability, the peace, and security of the Pacific”.
Governments across the Indo-Pacific region, including New Zealand, Japan and Papua New Guinea, were informed by Chinese officials of their military’s intention to conduct sea-based drills on Monday.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters called the test an “unwelcome and concerning development”, saying it would be discussed with Pacific partners.
Japan said it had “strongly urged” China to reconsider the move after being notified of the launch 90 minutes before it took place.
China defends launch as routine exercise
China said the missile test, its first in two years, was part of “routine” military training and “not directed at any specific country or target”.
“The related launch activity was conducted in a safe, regulated, and professional manner, and we hope that certain countries will refrain from overinterpreting them,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said after the launch on Monday.
Australia strengthens Pacific partnerships
Speaking to reporters in the Fijian capital, Suva, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the test came “in the context of a rapid military build-up by China” and risked “destabilising” the region.
Wong was in Fiji as Australia formalised the Ocean of Peace Alliance with the Pacific nation. The agreement is Fiji’s first formal alliance and Australia’s fourth, following similar agreements with the United States, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
The treaty will be backed by more than A$1 billion in Australian government funding over the next decade for measures targeting transnational crime, as well as health and infrastructure projects in Fiji, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Signing the agreement, Albanese described it as “one of the most significant endeavours” Australia had undertaken with any country.
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka called the treaty a “defining moment” in relations between the two countries and said it marked a “very significant elevation of our bilateral relationship”.
Asked whether he expected objections from Beijing, Rabuka said he believed China would “welcome the understanding”.
“It does not threaten Fiji’s relationship with China nor Australia’s relationship with China,” he said in remarks reported by Australia’s national broadcaster ABC.
Australia expands Pacific engagement
Last week, Albanese also signed Australia’s first comprehensive strategic pact with Vanuatu after months of negotiations. The agreement recognises Australia as Vanuatu’s primary policing partner and bars the establishment of any foreign military base on the Pacific island.
Albanese will continue his Pacific visit on Tuesday in the Solomon Islands, where he is due to meet Prime Minister Matthew Wale to continue negotiations on a new treaty.
Wale, elected in May, has long opposed the security pact signed between the Solomon Islands and China in 2022, and last month suggested the creation of a broader regional security agreement.
Source: BBC
Also read: Cyprus sends firefighting aircraft to France
For more videos and updates, check out our YouTube channel
