{"id":1551,"date":"2026-07-08T08:36:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T03:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2026-07-08T08:36:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T03:36:42","slug":"china-says-countries-should-not-overread-pacific-slbm-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=1551","title":{"rendered":"China says countries should not overread Pacific SLBM test"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/ph\/st\/th\/9361783475198\/2026\/upi_com\/d923c043675dfff62f954ecb83c597f6\/v1.5\/China-says-countries-should-not-overread-Pacific-SLBM-test.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing, China. Photo by JESSICA LEE\/ EPA<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"story_dl\">July 7 (Asia Today) &#8212;<\/span> China said countries should not overinterpret its test launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile into the Pacific, after the firing drew criticism from Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific island nations.<\/p>\n<p>Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular briefing Tuesday that the launch was part of regular military training by the Chinese military and was not aimed at any country or target.\n<\/p>\n<p>Mao said China had notified Solomon Islands and other South Pacific and related countries in advance, adding that the launch complied with international law and international practice.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;China follows the path of peaceful development and a nuclear strategy of self-defense,&#8221; Mao said. She said China keeps its nuclear forces at the minimum level required for national security and that &#8220;relevant countries do not need to overinterpret this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>China&#8217;s state-run Global Times also defended the launch in a commentary Tuesday, saying it demonstrated China&#8217;s determination and capability to firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.<\/p>\n<p>The newspaper said China&#8217;s nuclear capability had reached another milestone and that the country would continue to strengthen its strategic deterrence system, including its nuclear triad.\n<\/p>\n<p>A nuclear triad refers to a country&#8217;s ability to deliver nuclear weapons through three systems: intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and strategic bombers. Such a structure is intended to preserve the ability to retaliate after a nuclear first strike.<\/p>\n<p>Chinese diplomatic sources in Beijing said China announced Monday that one of its nuclear-powered strategic submarines had successfully launched an SLBM carrying a dummy warhead into international waters in the Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>China has not officially identified the missile. Experts believe it may have been the Julang-3, or JL-3, which was displayed during a military parade last year marking the 80th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.<\/p>\n<p>The JL-3 is believed to have a range of up to 12,000 kilometers, or about 7,456 miles, placing much of the Pacific, including the U.S. mainland, within reach. Analysts say the missile strengthens China&#8217;s nuclear triad strategy.<\/p>\n<p>Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said China&#8217;s military activities, combined with a lack of transparency, are a serious concern for Japan and the international community.<\/p>\n<p>Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong criticized the launch as destabilizing to the region. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said it was not consistent with regional stability.\n<\/p>\n<p>NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also expressed caution, saying, &#8220;We cannot be naive.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale, who chairs the Pacific Islands Forum, said he had delivered a strong protest to China&#8217;s ambassador in that capacity. Wale said the Solomon Islands government also submitted an official protest letter to China.<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8212; Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u00a9 Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Original Korean report: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260707010002704\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260707010002704<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing, China. Photo by JESSICA LEE\/ EPA July 7 (Asia Today) &#8212; China said countries should not overinterpret its test launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile into the Pacific, after the firing drew criticism from Japan, Australia, New Zealand&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/sv\/ph\/og\/upi_com\/9361783475198\/2026\/1\/d923c043675dfff62f954ecb83c597f6\/v1.5\/China-says-countries-should-not-overread-Pacific-SLBM-test.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}