Statement on China's People's Liberation Army Missile Testing in the Pacific
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The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), deplores China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) test firing on July 6th a submarine launched ballistic missile into the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone. This highly unusual missile test represents a clear and deliberate attempt to intimidate governments across the Pacific and destabilise regional security.
The nuclear capable inter-continental missile travelled over the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Kiribati and Tuvalu and landed near the EEZs of the latter two countries. Not all countries in the region received advance warning, and those that did of less than 24 hours.
The missile test came after the announcement of the Ocean of Peace defence pact between Australia and Fiji that commits the two countries to working more closely together in security.
This test marks a dangerous escalation in the Pacific and underscores a broader strategy by Beijing to create and exploit dependencies and use them as instruments of geopolitical leverage and coercion, and project military power beyond the first island chain.
IPAC welcomes the comments from regional governments, including Australia, New Zealand and the Solomon Islands, and also the United States and Japan, and calls on other Governments and international organisations to call out Beijing’s activities in the Pacific and the importance of inter-connectedness between the region and global security.
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