SYDNEY: Pacific Islands denounced China’s ballistic missile test because they say it landed in the heart of their shared “blue continent,” politicians and analysts told AFP.
Even Pacific nations indebted to Beijing joined criticism of Monday’s submarine-launched ballistic missile test, which reached far into the Pacific Ocean.
The term “Blue continent” is used by Pacific Islands to describe a joint home and shared stewardship of the ocean.
The nuclear-capable missile fitted with a dummy warhead landed somewhere between Nauru, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands, according to monitors and Pacific officials.
The reported landing spot lies amidst the Pacific islands, but in one of the few patches between them that is not part of an exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
