Why China Launched an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile into Pacific Ocean Waters

The Ministry of Defense of China reported that his forces had launched a intercontinental ballistic missile which carried a simulated warhead .

This happened on Wednesday, September 25, and according to reports, The projectile was aimed at the waters of the Pacific Ocean .

This is an important event because it the first time in 44 years that the Asian country has publicly announced a test of these characteristics in this maritime sector .

The last recorded instance was in May 1980 as saved by New York Times .

The projectile was fired by the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force and fallen into the “high seas” they said from the ministry.

However, They did not provide further details on where the simulated warhead landed or the model of the missile. who transported it.

They also did not say in their official statement from where it was specifically launched .

However, they stated that “it fell precisely in the assigned seas” .

The ministry said that “this missile launch was a routine part of the Rocket Force annual exercises “.

Along with this, they assured that ““It was not directed against any specific country or target.” .

According to China’s official news agency Xinhua, authorities sent a notification to the “concerned countries” to inform that they would do the launch.

Although President Xi Jinping’s government has not provided further details about the projectile launched on Wednesday, September 25, intercontinental ballistic missiles, also known as ICBMs, can hit targets thousands of kilometers away .

China, in particular, It has about 134 units capable of launching about 240 nuclear warheads. according to an annual report by the think tank Federation of American Scientists published in January 2024.

For reference, this number translates to just under half of the figures processed by the United States and Russia .

Drew Thompson, a senior research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told the Times that China publicly announced the test because of the characteristics of the projectile and the chosen destination .

“It’s hard to hide the launch of a ballistic missile in the Pacific, so it makes sense for Beijing to announce that it happened and control the narrative.” ” added the expert, who also served in the past as a Pentagon official.

Thompson stressed that with this operation, “China is sending a signal” .

“This ballistic missile test warns your opponents that there are limits to their tolerance. It also underlines the Communist Party’s acute sense of risk and vulnerability,” the specialist suggested.

Among the Asian countries that have distanced themselves from Xi Jinping’s government are: Japan, South Korea and Taiwan .

In fact, Japanese Cabinet Chief Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference on Wednesday 25th that Japanese authorities ‘trying to confirm details’ of recent shows of force Chinese troops.

He also assured that In Tokyo, they were not given any notice of the missile launch.

Just days before this event, on Monday, September 23, the Japanese government had denounced A Russian reconnaissance plane entered its airspace without permission .

The day before, it had been declared that Russian and Chinese ships sailed around northern coast of Japan as reported by the news agency PA .

Hayashi accused at the conference on Wednesday, September 25, that “China’s military activities lack transparency” .

“And it became a serious concern for Japan and the international community “, the chief cabinet secretary stressed.

One of the most fraught issues in the region is the possibility of China directly attacking Taiwan .

These fears are due to the fact that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) led by Xi Jinping considers it part of its territory and has remained a rebel separatist province since 1949, when the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek lost the civil war against the Communists led by Mao Zedong.

The President of US President Joe Biden has said his country will defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese offensive. which has stepped up its military exercises in the South China Sea.

Although the North American nation does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state, has informal links with its authorities .

The aforementioned island territory has great strategic relevance both from an economic point of view and from a geopolitical and military point of view.

For his part, China has strengthened relations with allies like Russia country which has continued its armed invasion of Ukraine since February 24, 2022.

According to data retrieved by the aforementioned American media, the People’s Liberation Army The Asian country has built more than 300 silos that can house intercontinental ballistic missiles. in three northern sectors of its own territory.

China also presented increasingly accelerated advances in terms of maritime power, to the point that today its fleet of warships exceeds in number to that of the US Navy.