China fires ICBM into Pacific Ocean in first such public test in decades as regional tensions flare

 

China's ICBM send off is found in a picture delivered by Individuals' Freedom Armed force on September 25, 2024. PLA/WeChat

Hong Kong

CNN

 —

China says it effectively terminated an intercontinental long range rocket into the Pacific Sea on Wednesday, an intriguing public test that experts said was intended to make an impression on the US and its partners in the midst of uplifted territorial strains.

An ICBM conveying a spurious warhead was sent off at 8:44 a.m. Beijing time and fell into an assigned region in the high oceans of the Pacific Sea, the Chinese Guard Service said in an explanation. It didn't indicate the rocket's flight way or landing area.

The service said the send off, by Individuals' Freedom Armed force Rocket Power, was important for its normal yearly preparation and not coordinated at any nation or target. It comes as China and Russia direct joint maritime practices in adjacent oceans near Japan.

The send off "really tried the presentation of weapons and hardware as well as the preparation level of the soldiers, and accomplished the normal targets," state news organization Xinhua said in a different report, adding that China had "told significant nations ahead of time" of the test.

A Pentagon representative said the US got "some high level warning" of the test from Beijing, referring to it as "a positive development … to forestalling any misperception or error."