Bangkok, July 7 (EFE).- China’s conduct over its launch of a ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine into the waters of the South Pacific was not consistent with international law and a longstanding nuclear-free treaty, foreign governments said Tuesday.
China’s state news agency Xinhua on Monday reported that as part of military training exercises, the country’s navy fired a “submarine-launched strategic missile (SLBM) equipped with a training dummy warhead at 12.01pm (1.01pm Japan time) … successfully hitting its target area precisely.”
It did not say where that target was, but Taiwan’s National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu published a map on social media that claimed the missile’s flight path tracked over the north of the Philippines, landing near Nauru and Tonga.
Amid international criticism following the test, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters on Monday at a regular press conference that it was a “routine military training activity that is not directed at any specific country or target,” that “the countries concerned were informed prior to the launch,” and that it was “consistent with international law and customary international practice.”
