New Telegraph

China Conducts First Public Test Launch Of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

China publicly acknowledged for the first time that it successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean yesterday, in a move likely to raise international concerns about the country’s nuclear build-up.

The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force at 08:44 a.m.

Beijing time (0044 GMT) yesterday and “fell into expected sea areas,” the Chinese defence ministry said in a statement, adding it was a “routine arrangement in our annual training plan” and not directed at any country or target.

China “informed the countries concerned in advance,” according to a separate Xinhua report, which did not clarify the path of the missile or where exactly in the “high seas of the Pacific Ocean” it fell.

The launch “effectively tested the performance of weapons and equipment and the training level of the troops, and achieved the expected goal,” Xinhua reported.

The PLA Rocket Force, which oversees the country’s conventional and nuclear missiles, has been tasked with modernising China’s nuclear forces to deter developments such as improved US missile defences, better surveillance capabilities, and strengthened alliances, reports Reuters.

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