As world leaders gathered in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly this week, China launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean in four decades. This rare public test coincides with mounting risks that World War III could erupt at any time in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and or the South China Sea. 

On Wednesday morning, the Rocket Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army launched an ICBM with a “dummy warhead to the high seas in the Pacific Ocean … and the missile fell into expected sea areas,” the Chinese Defense Ministry wrote in a press release. 

“This test launch is a routine arrangement in our annual training plan. It is in line with international law and international practice and is not directed against any country or target,” the ministry said. 

There was a launch from Hainan at 00:44UTC today (September 25). Not a space launch, but an intercontinental ballistic missile test launched to southern Pacific pic.twitter.com/BBbymSmNBn

— China ‘N Asia Spaceflight 🚀𝕏 🛰️ (@CNSpaceflight) September 25, 2024

State news agency Xinhua said the Chinese military “notified relevant countries in advance” of the ICBM test without specifying which countries. 

The launch “effectively tested the performance of weapons and equipment as well as the training level of the troops, and achieved the expected objectives,” Xinhua said.

Source: Bloomberg

According to James Char, assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, who Bloomberg quoted, the ICBM test into the Pacific Ocean was China’s first since the early 1980s. 

The launch occurred during the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York and overshadowed a world on fire.

Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said, “This is a pretty bold and provocative statement, and I think the timing is significant,” adding, that the ICBM launch was a message to the world that Beijing’s missile capabilities are expanding.

This ICBM test also comes ahead of what the Financial Times says is a phone call between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President Biden, which is expected in the coming weeks.