Indo-Pacific

China’s Pacific Missile Test Alarms Region

A Chinese navy nuclear-powered submarine test-fired a long-range ballistic missile carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific on July 6, drawing concern from Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan as regional governments tracked wider Chinese and Russian naval activity across the Indo-Pacific, Reuters reported. China’s Xinhua news agency said the missile was launched at 12:01 p.m. Beijing time and landed in designated international waters. Beijing called the launch routine annual training, said relevant countries had been notified in advance, and said the test was not directed at any country or target, according to Channel NewsAsia. China did not identify the missile, submarine or launch site. Reuters reported that the missile was believed to be the JL-3, China’s most advanced submarine-launched missile, while the Wall Street Journal said analysts described the weapon as likely either a JL-2 or newer JL-3 and placed the flight at more than 7,000 kilometers toward the…