(Update 2: Adds Japan details, rewrites with new angle)
Beijing/Tokyo/Taiwan, Sep 25 (EFE).- China’s military test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the waters of the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, the country’s defense ministry said, in a rare publicized launch.
The missile was carrying a dummy warhead and landed within the planned area, according to the ministry, which did not specify the route it took nor where exactly in the high seas it fell
It is a “routine action in the annual training plan and was notified in advance to the relevant countries,” officials said.
The 8.44 am (00:44 GMT) launch was intended to test the performance of its weapons and the effectiveness of its military training, two objectives which the ministry said were achieved.
Tokyo on Wednesday said the launch was a “very serious concern for Japan and international society.”
“From China to Japan there was no prior notification,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said in his afternoon press conference.
He said the missile did not fly over Japan and the government would continue to obtain intelligence and monitor the situation.
The secrecy of China’s nuclear program has provoked criticism from countries such as the United States, which estimates that Beijing has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads and could double this number by 2030.
The launch also comes amid an increase in tensions with Taiwan due to its new President William Lai, considered by Beijing to have separatist intentions, which China opposes.
Taiwan’s armed forces said Wednesday they were monitoring the movements of China’s army after the launch, and said 23 aircraft and combat drones of the Chinese army were detected at 7.10 am local time (23:10 GMT Tuesday), including J-16 fighter jets and KJ-500 aircraft, “carrying out activities at sea.”
Of those aircraft, 22 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial border respected by Taipei and Beijing for decades, and entered Taiwan’s self-proclaimed Air Defense Identification Zone.
The island’s military said there had been an increase in exercises and missile launches by Chinese forces in recent days, without giving details on where they took place. EFE
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