Important Takeaways:

• China said Wednesday that it had successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean, in a rare public test that may raise international concerns as the country builds up its nuclear arsenal at a time of tensions with the United States.
• The Chinese defense ministry said the test was a routine part of the Rocket Force’s annual military training.
• But analysts said this was the first time China had launched an ICBM into international waters since 1980.
• China’s description of the test as routine and annual “seems odd,” Panda said, “given that they don’t do this sort thing either routinely or annually.”
• The Japanese government’s top spokesperson, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said China was rapidly expanding its nuclear and missile arsenal and increasing its defense expenditures without sufficient transparency.
• “These developments in China’s military activities, combined with their lack of transparency, have become a matter of serious concern for Japan and for the international community,” he said.
• ICBMs typically have a range of more than 3,400 miles and are designed to carry nuclear warheads. Analysts say China usually tests long-range missiles over its own land.
• China suspended nuclear arms talks with the U.S. in July to protest U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its territory.
• China’s test on Wednesday comes amid heightened military activity in the Asia-Pacific region, where nuclear-armed North Korea has accelerated its weapons testing since 2022. Last week, North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea for the second time this month.
• North Korea says its weapons tests are in response to intensifying joint military exercises among the U.S., South Korea and others that it sees as a rehearsal for invasion.
• The U.S. also deployed an advanced missile system in the Philippines earlier this year that China sees as a threat.

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