The missile test marked China’s second publicly known launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile over international waters in two years. The previous test, conducted in 2024, sent a missile into waters near French Polynesia and was reported as China’s first such launch over international waters in more than four decades.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Washington viewed China’s expanding nuclear program with growing concern, arguing that Beijing was moving in the opposite direction at a time when the United States was seeking to curb global nuclear proliferation.

Pigott called on China to participate in meaningful arms control negotiations and establish a regular notification mechanism covering all intercontinental-range ballistic missile and space launches.

The latest launch comes months after the United States allowed the New START treaty, the last major bilateral nuclear arms control agreement with Russia, to expire while insisting that any future framework should also include China. Beijing has repeatedly rejected such proposals, maintaining that its nuclear arsenal remains significantly smaller than those of the United States and Russia, although its capabilities have expanded rapidly in recent years.

New Zealand said China informed Pacific nations roughly two hours before the missile launch. It was not immediately clear whether Washington received similar advance notification.

China’s military described the launch as part of its annual training program. Navy spokesperson Wang Xuemeng said in a statement published on WeChat that the missile test was a routine military exercise and that relevant countries had been informed beforehand.

According to monitoring organizations cited in the report, the missile was launched from a nuclear submarine and appeared to land near the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. The location has drawn heightened strategic attention since the Solomon Islands signed a security agreement with China in 2022, an arrangement now under review by the country’s new government.

Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said the launch suggested China was expanding its sea-based nuclear deterrent by demonstrating the ability to conduct long-range missile operations from submarines. He said such a capability would strengthen the survivability of China’s nuclear forces and expand options for projecting strategic deterrence beyond land-based systems.

The test coincided with Australia and Fiji signing a new defense treaty, part of Canberra’s broader effort to reinforce security partnerships across the Pacific amid China’s growing regional influence. Analysts, however, said there was little evidence that the two developments were directly connected, noting that strategic missile tests are generally planned well in advance.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong described the missile launch as destabilizing for the Indo-Pacific region.

Japan, which said it had received prior notification of the launch, said it had urged Beijing to reconsider the test and reiterated serious concerns over China’s expanding military activities. Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have become increasingly strained following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks in late 2025 suggesting that a future Chinese attack on Taiwan could justify Japanese military involvement.

Russia, a close strategic partner of China, defended the missile launch, saying Beijing had every sovereign right to conduct such military activities and was not threatening other countries.

The latest missile test highlights the growing strategic competition across the Indo-Pacific, where expanding military capabilities, nuclear modernization and competing security partnerships continue to reshape the regional security landscape.