{"id":6514,"date":"2026-07-06T18:39:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6514"},"modified":"2026-07-06T18:39:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:39:24","slug":"china-test-fires-long-range-missile-into-pacific-rattling-u-s-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6514","title":{"rendered":"China test-fires long-range missile into Pacific, rattling U.S. allies"},"content":{"rendered":"

The unprecedented test of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched missile highlights Beijing\u2019s growing force in the region.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Giannis, traded to Heat, bids farewell to Bucks, calling Milwaukee \u2018my city, my team, my family\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

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Military vehicles carry JL-2 submarine-launched missiles in Beijing in 2019. (Mark Schiefelbein\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

China fired a long-range missile from a nuclear-powered submarine deep into the Pacific Ocean on Monday, its first known demonstration of a sea-based strategic nuclear strike capability, raising alarm among U.S. allies.<\/p>\n

Countries in the region, including Japan, <\/b>Australia and New Zealand, were notified shortly before the test, in which a missile carrying a dummy warhead was launched at 12:01 p.m. Beijing time, according to Chinese officials and state media. It was not immediately clear whether the Chinese government also notified the United States ahead of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis test launch complies with international law and international practice and is not directed at any specific country or target,\u201d Senior Cap. Wang Xuemeng, spokesman for the People\u2019s Liberation Army Navy, said in a social media posting<\/a>. It\u2019s unclear where in the Pacific the missile landed.<\/p>\n

The launch marks a significant step in Beijing\u2019s push to build a nuclear triad: the ability to deliver nuclear weapons from land, air and sea. China last year publicly displayed its land-, sea- and air-based long-range missiles together for the first time during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the PLA launched a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile that traveled about 7,300 miles to waters near French Polynesia. With Monday\u2019s submarine launch, Beijing now has only to demonstrate the air-based leg of its nuclear triad.<\/p>\n

The test drew swift condemnation from U.S. allies, who warned it posed a dangerous risk to regional stability.<\/p>\n

\u201cDestabilizing acts can lead to miscalculation, can lead where we do not want these actions to lead,\u201d said Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. She said the test came in the \u201ccontext of a rapid military buildup by China, which is lacking in the transparency and reassurance as to intent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Japan said it strongly urged Beijing to reconsider after being notified of the test, while New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters condemned the launch, saying it was \u201cnot consistent with regional stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The test coincided with the signing of a mutual defense pact between Australia and Fiji, and came as the United States is hosting the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercise in Hawaii involving more than 30 nations.<\/p>\n

China was disinvited from the annual exercise in 2018 over its militarization of the South China Sea. On Monday, PLA media outlets issued a sharp rebuke<\/a> of this year\u2019s drills, calling them \u201cprovocative.\u201d<\/p>\n

If China declined to warn the United States of Monday\u2019s long-range test, it would mark a break from precedent: Beijing gave Washington advance notice before its 2024 ICBM test.<\/p>\n

The State Department and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.<\/p>

Read more Emily\u2019s List weighs in on the crucial Senate race roiling Democrats<\/a><\/p>\n

Analysts say that while the test poses a more immediate threat to countries in the Indo-Pacific region, the launch probably was intended as a signal to the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the Chinese strategy is to explicitly showcase strategic nuclear capabilities to impress upon the United States China\u2019s growing strategic power. In Beijing\u2019s view, that would make Washington more aware of the risk of getting involved in major conflict with China,\u201d said Tong Zhao, an expert on China\u2019s nuclear weapons program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank.<\/p>\n

Zhao said the missile\u2019s flight path near U.S. missile-tracking facilities in Guam and the Marshall Islands added weight to the view that the launch was meant as a signaling exercise. \u201cThe fact that the Chinese missile flew near those places means Beijing is not particularly worried about the technical parameters of the missile being collected by the United States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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President Donald Trump participates in a welcome ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping on May 14 in Beijing. (Mark Schiefelbein\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The test comes amid a period of relative d\u00e9tente in U.S.-China relations. President Donald Trump downplayed the risk of war with China over Taiwan following a May meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, despite Xi\u2019s warning<\/a> that mishandling the issue could lead to \u201cconflicts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last thing we need right now is a war that\u2019s 9,500 miles away,\u201d Trump said at the time. Ahead of the meeting, the White House paused a $14 billion arms package intended for Taiwan and still has not approved the deal, unnerving Taipei.<\/p>\n

The PLA did not confirm which type of missile was fired, though analysts and Chinese state media<\/a> outlets point to either the JL-2 or the newer JL-3, China\u2019s top-of-the-line submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n

The JL series of submarine-launched missiles has an estimated range of roughly 5,000 to 8,000 miles, making them capable of striking major U.S. cities from parts of the Pacific, depending on where they are deployed.<\/p>\n

The test comes as Beijing expands its military reach deeper into the Indo-Pacific region. Last year, Chinese vessels conducted live-fire exercises off Australia\u2019s coast, and in January it staged its largest-ever live-fire drills around Taiwan after U.S. approval of an $11 billion arms package.<\/p>\n

Analysts say Monday\u2019s test differs because its display of long-range nuclear deterrence probably was intended to show that Beijing could retaliate against the United States in the event of a nuclear attack during a conflict over Taiwan or the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not something they would use against Taiwan or against probably any regional countries. They would be using it against the U.S.,\u201d said Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington.<\/p>\n

In China, state media and social media users hailed the successful launch, while the Foreign Ministry appeared to caution against reading too much into Beijing\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is hoped that relevant countries won\u2019t overinterpret it,\u201d Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.<\/p>

Read more What to know about FIFA\u2019s decision to lift the suspension of US player Balogun<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The unprecedented test of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched missile highlights Beijing\u2019s growing force in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nChina test-fires long-range missile into Pacific, rattling U.S. allies - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6514\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China test-fires long-range missile into Pacific, rattling U.S. allies - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The unprecedented test of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched missile highlights Beijing\u2019s growing force in the region.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6514\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-06T18:39:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/b12ab4ae8172a8c760472968cea6a445-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"China test-fires long-range missile into Pacific, rattling U.S. allies\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T18:39:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514\"},\"wordCount\":1038,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/c022f5e1c5bc04b837eac642842f6a69-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514\",\"name\":\"China test-fires long-range missile into Pacific, rattling U.S. allies - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/c022f5e1c5bc04b837eac642842f6a69-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T18:39:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6514#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/c022f5e1c5bc04b837eac642842f6a69-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/c022f5e1c5bc04b837eac642842f6a69-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"In this Oct. 1, 2019, photo, military vehicles carrying JL-2 submarine-launched missiles roll during a parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing. 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