CANBERRA, July 7 – Australia on Tuesday said China’s test launch of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile into the South Pacific reflected “the biggest military build-up in our region since World War II.”
Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the Chinese government had been planning the long-range test for “some time” but only informed Australia a few hours beforehand.
China said on Monday it had successfully conducted the test launch of a strategic missile from a nuclear submarine, hours after Beijing notified several Pacific nations of the planned test.
The launch marks China’s second strategic missile test since it fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the Pacific Ocean in September 2024, the first such test since 1980.
The launch came just hours after Australia and Fiji signed a major defense alliance committing each country to come to the other’s aid if either is attacked.
“We’ve been very clear that we’re seeing the biggest military build-up in our region since World War Two, and it’s not being accompanied by sufficient transparency,” Conroy told ABC’s RN Breakfast program.
Conroy added he believed the launch was “more likely to be a coincidence rather than linked” to the Fiji agreement.
Defense Minister Richard Marles, who is also the deputy prime minister, said Canberra had raised its concern with China “directly.”
“This is China demonstrating a much greater range in terms of being able to deploy a nuclear weapon,” Marles told ABC News.
“There really isn’t an explanation as to why they are building the capabilities that they are and that is fundamentally destabilizing,” he added.
