Recently, the Chinese Communist Party’s missile test in the heart of the Pacific Ocean has sparked criticism from various countries, including Pacific nations that have borrowed from Beijing. These countries have joined in condemning Beijing for threatening their beautiful “blue continent.”
On Monday, July 6, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy nuclear-powered strategic submarine launched a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead from underwater. The missile, carrying a training warhead, traveled more than 7,200 kilometers deep into the South Pacific on a full range trajectory. This marks the first time in Chinese history that it has publicly confirmed launching a submarine-launched ballistic missile into international waters, less than two years after its September 2024 launch of the “Dongfeng-31” land-based intercontinental missile into the Pacific.
Monitoring personnel and Pacific officials noted that the missile ultimately landed in the international waters corridor between Nauru, Tuvalu, and the Solomon Islands. While technically avoiding the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of the islands, the actual location penetrated deep into the heart of the Pacific island region.
President Surangel Whipps of Palau, who is scheduled to host the annual Pacific leaders’ meeting next month, condemned the act. He told Agence France-Presse, “(China) fired a missile directly into the heart of the Pacific without warning, landing precisely between our exclusive economic zones.”
The 18 member countries of the Pacific Islands Forum collectively manage a combined exclusive economic zone covering 25 million square kilometers. In local culture, they refer to this ocean as the “blue continent” – a symbol of the collective homeland and shared responsibility for ocean conservation among island nations.
Ruth Cross Kwansing, a government minister from Kiribati, emphasized to Agence France-Presse, “One must change perspective to see the map not as a collection of disparate and isolated islands, but view the ocean itself as a tapestry of life that tightly connects us all.” She bluntly stated that this ocean is not a vacuum or military buffer zone where global powers can act with impunity.
In the past, China has often used infrastructure loans to cultivate relationships with Pacific island nations. However, faced with this blatant display of nuclear intimidation, including from small countries that have borrowed from Beijing and even the Solomon Islands, one of China’s closest security partners in the region, more than a dozen Pacific countries have come out openly to protest.
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape explicitly stated that this should be the “last such missile test in the Pacific waters,” warning not only China but all major military powers.
Oliver Nobetau, the director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program, also strongly criticized China’s missile test. He mentioned that what most terrifies Pacific leaders is that this test not only demonstrates the extension of China’s military power but also seems like a suffocating prelude to potential regional conflicts in the future.
He revealed that next month’s Pacific leaders’ summit has already confirmed that this missile test will be a central issue on its agenda.