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China said on Wednesday that it successfully conducted a rare launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the Pacific Ocean, a move likely to raise international concerns about the country’s nuclear buildup.
The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force at 8:44 a.m. Beijing time on Wednesday and “fell into expected sea areas,” the Chinese defense ministry said in a statement, adding that it was a “routine arrangement in our annual training plan” and not directed at any country or target.
China “informed the countries concerned in advance,” according to a separate Xinhua report, which did not clarify the path of the missile or where in the “high seas of the Pacific Ocean” it fell.
The launch “effectively tested the performance of weapons and equipment and the training level of the troops, and achieved the expected goal,” Xinhua reported.
A Japan Coast Guard official said it had received a navigation warning from China on Monday for “space debris” in three zones in South China Sea and the Pacific north of the Philippines’ Luzon Island, and in the South Pacific, on Wednesday.
The official declined to confirm whether it was related to the reported missile launch.
It is rare for China to fire long-range missiles into the sea as it prefers to test them unannounced in isolated provinces, such as Inner Mongolia, analysts said.
