China Test-Launches Ballistic Missile In South Pacific

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s navy has test-launched a long-range ballistic missile from one of its nuclear-powered submarines in the South Pacific. The New Zealand government says the missile was fired into a nuclear-free zone established in a 1986 treaty. China last tested a missile in international waters in 2024, the first such test in four decades. China’s brief announcement of Monday’s test says the missile carried a dummy warhead and was part of routine training. The launch took place the same day Australia and Fiji signed a new mutual defense treaty meant to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific.