The United States sharply criticised China on Wednesday for providing only a few hours’ notice before test-firing a nuclear-capable ballistic missile from a submarine into the Pacific Ocean, warning that the notification fell well short of international norms observed by other major nuclear powers.
A US State Department official told Reuters that Beijing’s alert came far too late and lacked essential detail. “China’s notification to the United States came only a few hours before the launch and failed to provide sufficient detail, falling considerably short of standards adopted by all other P5 nuclear weapon states,” the official said, referring to the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council recognised as nuclear-weapon states under the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
China’s military launched the missile from a nuclear-powered submarine into the Pacific on Monday, according to Chinese state media, in a test that drew swift criticism and concern not only from Washington but also from Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan.
Washington Calls the Launch ‘Irresponsible’
The State Department official went further in characterising Beijing’s conduct, telling Reuters that launching a nuclear-capable missile without engaging the standard diplomatic channels for advance notification amounted to reckless behaviour. “We urge Beijing to engage in meaningful discussions on strategic stability and arms control,” the official said, adding that the United States remained fully committed to its defence obligations toward allies and partners in the region.
A separate US State Department spokesperson, speaking to the South China Morning Post, tied the incident directly to broader anxieties over the pace and opacity of China’s nuclear expansion. “The test occurred amid China’s rapid and opaque nuclear weapons build-up and is of great concern to the region,” the spokesperson said, adding that Washington had tracked the missile from launch to its splashdown in the southern Pacific Ocean.
Beijing Downplays the Test as Routine
Chinese state media offered a starkly different characterisation of the launch. The state-run Xinhua news agency described the exercise as a “routine arrangement” tied to annual military training, insisting it was not directed at any specific country or target.
China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the State Department’s criticism.
Beijing did not publicly disclose which missile type was used in the test, though the state-controlled tabloid Global Times, citing a military expert, suggested it was likely the JL-3, China’s most advanced submarine-launched ballistic missile. According to a Pentagon assessment, a missile of that class is capable of reaching the continental United States when launched from waters near China’s coastline.
Test Lands Amid Broader Standoff Over Arms Control
The dispute over the July 6 launch reflects a deeper and long-running impasse between Washington and Beijing over nuclear transparency. China has continued to expand its nuclear arsenal at what US officials describe as an unusually rapid pace, while repeatedly declining American proposals to open formal arms control talks. Beijing has argued that such discussions are premature given the far larger stockpiles held by the United States and Russia.
Diplomatic engagement on the issue has been effectively frozen since 2024, when China suspended nascent nuclear talks with Washington in protest of American arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governing island Beijing claims as its own territory. Wednesday’s exchange suggests that the impasse shows little sign of easing, even as the scale and sophistication of China’s submarine-based nuclear capabilities continue to draw growing concern across the Indo-Pacific region.
