Micronesia Sun Bright News from the Deep Pacific
Photo Sources: Cover Image made with AI by Micronesia Sun; Below Map posted by Joseph Wu, Taiwan National Security Council post on X.
By Christopher Cottrell
July 7, 2026, Federated States of Micronesia__China’s launch of a nuclear capable ballistic missile across the Pacific Islands and crashing near Tuvalu has outraged the Pacific region just as the lethal Category 5 Super Typhoon Bavi was bashing the Mariana Islands.
At 12:01 Beijing time July 6, it was fired from a nuclear submarine off the coast of southern China, flying between Taiwan and Luzon northern Philippines, south of Guam where Typhoon Bavi was, then through the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, and Naoero (formerly Nauru) before hitting inside Tuvalu’s EEZ, which is part of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Treaty Zone.
The Washington Post confirmed the time of the launch and an X post from Joseph Wu, Secretary-General, Taiwan National Security Council and Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, showed a map of the missile’s trajectory.
Australia’s Acting Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles said the launch was a move for “destabilising” the Pacific region, telling Australia media, “This is a long-range missile test which China itself said would be nuclear capable, which has been launched from a submarine, which also implies something in terms of extending China’s range to deploy nuclear weapons.”
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters told local media that, “The Pacific is an Ocean of Peace and we are deeply concerned by China’s testing of nuclear-capable weapons into the South Pacific.”
Peters continued, “We, like our neighbours in other Pacific countries, have no interest in China using the South Pacific as a testing site for missile capability. Launching ballistic missiles into the South Pacific is at odds with the spirit and intent of the Blue Pacific Ocean of Peace. This missile was fired into the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone established by the Treaty of Rarotonga. China’s action goes against the object and intent of that Treaty.”
Peters added, “”We will be talking with our Pacific partners about this development. Pacific leaders have been clear we do not want to see the region become a theatre for outside military competition. This launch is not consistent with regional stability, and peace in the South Pacific.
“We are also concerned that this now seems to be a recurring pattern by China, following its test firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the South Pacific in 2024. We as a region should not sit by and allow such tests to become normalised or routine.”
While Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea have said they were told of the test, it was very short notice. It is unclear if D.C. was informed, but they saw it go up.
U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Thomas “Tommy” Pigott said, “The United States monitored China’s test launch from a submarine of an unarmed intercontinental-range ballistic missile, which landed in the southern Pacific Ocean. At a time when the United States is working harder than ever to prevent nuclear proliferation, China is doing the opposite.”
Pigott added, “Beijing’s rapid and opaque nuclear weapons buildup is of great concern to the region and the world. We continue to urge China to engage in meaningful arms control discussions and commit to a regularized notification arrangement for all intercontinental-range ballistic missile and space launches consistent with commitments made by all other P5 members. The United States remains steadfast in our defense commitments to our allies and partners.”
Asked about the launch by Agence France Presse at a press conference yesterday in Beijing, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mao Ning replied, “It is a routine military training activity that is not directed at any specific country or target.”
“We hope relevant countries will not read too much into it.”
Some have speculated that the test was in response to Australia signing the US$345 million economic and security Vanuatu-Nakamal Agreement last week on June 29 that also prevents foreign military bases in the country. China is reported to also be pursuing security talks with Vanuatu, though its Prime Minister Jotham Napat denies this.
Yesterday’s Australia-Fiji signing of the Vuvale (Family) Union and the Ocean of Peace Alliance, also known as the Veitacini (Siblings) Mutual Defence Treaty, will see $AUD 2.2 billion (US$1.59 billion) pumped into Pacific development assistance as a “defining moment” in the Fiji-Australia relationship and a “new era of strategic partnership,” Fiji Prime Minister Rabuka told local media.
Either way, the missile shooting has electrified experts in the Pacific that the Micronesia Sun communicated with; some noting this will charge the Micronesia Islands Forum taking place in Pohnpei next week, and going forward next month at the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau, where Beijing will attend as well as Taiwan.
Already, Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Waqa and Marshall Islands President Heine recently discussed the Rarotonga Treaty, or “South Pacific Nuclear Zone Treaty” that bans possession and testing of nuclear weapons in the region. Marshall Islands signed the treaty in March 2025, and its full ratification is expected, with some wondering off record how it will now be raised at the Pacific Islands Forum in the presence of Beijing’s recent rocket action.
Comments Dr. Michael Main, an expert on Pacific Islands tribal violence and regional security with Australia National University’s School of Regulation and Global Governance, “All I know is that the memory of nuclear testing only strengthens over time and this missile has flown directly into that open wound. And for what? I would have thought that right now China’s standing in the world is the highest it has ever been…It is not being threatened by anyone.”
He added, “Whatever diplomatic gains China has worked hard to achieve in the Pacific it has managed to sink in an instant with one missile.”
“China just proved again to be a bully on the block,” John Wu wrote in his X post.
