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Classified New Zealand papers detail alarm over China’s Pacific missile test
Documents obtained under the Official Information Act reveal deep diplomatic unease about China’s ‘mischaracterisation’ of its ICBM launch
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China tried to mislead foreign governments in 2024 by playing down the importance of a nuclear-capable missile test over the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand diplomats privately warned in documents obtained by reporters.
Beijing sent shivers through the South Pacific in September 2024, when its elite Rocket Force fired a dummy warhead into the high seas near French Polynesia.
A tranche of classified government briefing notes shows deep concern within the New Zealand government in the wake of the surprise launch, which China shrugged off as “routine”.
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It was China’s first long-range missile launch over international waters in more than 40 years, the papers confirmed, serving as a blunt reminder of Beijing’s potent nuclear-strike capabilities.
“We are concerned that China is characterising this as a ‘routine test’,” senior diplomats wrote in a memo to New Zealand’s foreign affairs minister.
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“It is not routine: China has not conducted this type of long-range missile test in over 40 years … We do not want to see this test repeated.”
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China tests ICBM capable of reaching US mainland with launch into Pacific Ocean
China tests ICBM capable of reaching US mainland with launch into Pacific Ocean
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