China releases photos of ballistic missile tested yesterday

(ANSA) – BEIJING, SEPTEMBER 26 – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army this morning released photos of the DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Wednesday and later confirmed that it was the first test in the Pacific skies since May 1980, when at least a pair of DF-5s were fired. The Rocket Force, the elite unit in charge of conventional and nuclear missiles, verified that the carrier “landed precisely in the predetermined maritime zone” at the conclusion of “the first full-range test” of an ICBM carrier, Beijing state media reported. According to initial findings, the second and third stages of the missile fell near the Philippines, which does not make it a specific signal to Manila amid ongoing bitter territorial tensions, given that everything China flies or sails into the Pacific must pass over or through the so-called first island chain, of which Taiwan is the linchpin. As for the advance notifications sent “to stakeholders” about the launch cited by state-run Xinhua, Japan said it had not received any warning from Beijing about its plans, along with Australia and New Zealand. While the U.S. Department of Defense said it had received “some” notification from Beijing. Instead, China told France it would conduct the test in the Pacific before the launch. “Chinese authorities had previously informed their French counterparts of the test, who will not fail to make their position on this test known when the time comes,” the High Commissioner for French Polynesia said in a statement. (ANSA).