BEIJING (Diya TV) — China carried out a rare submarine-launched ballistic missile test in the Pacific Ocean on Monday. The move drew concern from New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. Officials in those countries said the launch raised fresh questions about regional security and military transparency.
China said the test followed its annual military training plan. The People’s Liberation Army Navy said one of its submarines launched a strategic missile with a dummy warhead into designated waters in the Pacific Ocean. The military added that the missile landed accurately at its planned target area.
Chinese officials also said they informed relevant countries before the launch. They stressed that the test followed international law and did not target any country or specific objective.
However, the launch quickly sparked criticism across the Pacific region. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters called the test both unwelcome and concerning. He said China fired the missile into waters within the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone. The zone was created under the Treaty of Rarotonga in 1986 to promote peace and limit nuclear activity across the region.
Peters said Pacific nations do not want China to use the South Pacific as a missile testing area. He also warned against allowing such military tests to become normal in the region. Furthermore, he said the latest launch reminded many people of China’s intercontinental ballistic missile test in September 2024.
Australia also voiced concern. Foreign Minister Penny Wong described the missile launch as destabilizing for the region. She said the test came during a period of rapid military expansion by China. She also said the region expects greater transparency and clearer explanations about Beijing’s military intentions.
Meanwhile, Japan expressed serious concern over China’s growing military activities. Japanese officials urged Beijing to reconsider conducting ballistic missile tests that could increase regional tensions.
China did not identify the missile used during Monday’s test. However, military experts say the Chinese navy operates two submarine-launched ballistic missiles, the JL-2 and the newer JL-3. The JL-3 has a much longer range. Experts say it can reach the continental United States when launched from waters near China’s coastline, including the South China Sea.
China currently operates six Type 094, or Jin-class, ballistic missile submarines. These vessels form an important part of the country’s expanding nuclear deterrent. In recent years, Beijing has invested heavily in modernizing its naval and nuclear forces.
Although China regularly conducts military exercises, it rarely announces ballistic missile tests. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, China first tested the JL-3 missile in 2018. The country conducted another known test in 2019. Since then, Beijing has released very little public information about similar launches.
The latest test also follows China’s long-range missile launch in September 2024. During that exercise, China fired a DF-31B nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile from Hainan Island into the open Pacific near French Polynesia. That launch marked China’s first known intercontinental ballistic missile test into the open ocean in 44 years.
The United States Department of Defense has also tracked China’s missile development closely. A December 2025 Pentagon report said China usually carries out missile tests within its own territory. However, the report noted that China launched several intercontinental ballistic missiles from a western training base in December 2024. According to the report, those launches showed the ability to rapidly fire multiple silo-based missiles.
The same Pentagon assessment said Chinese military planners view such missile tests as part of medium- to high-intensity nuclear deterrence operations. Analysts believe these activities support China’s broader effort to strengthen its strategic nuclear capabilities.
Still, missile testing remains common among major nuclear powers. For example, the U.S. Navy conducted four Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile tests off the coast of Florida in September last year. India also tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile in December, while Russia carried out a similar test in October.
