China has said it successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean.
The ICMB was launched at 08:44 local time (04:44 GMT) on Wednesday and “fell into expected sea areas”, Beijing’s defence ministry said, adding that the test launch was “routine” and part of its “annual training”.
The type of missile and its flight path remained unclear, but Chinese state media said Beijing had “informed the countries concerned in advance”.
Analysts said Beijing’s description of the test as “routine” was surprising because the last such test happened in 1980.
China’s nuclear weapon tests usually take place domestically and it previously test-fired ICBMs west into the Taklamakan Desert in the Xinjiang region.
@LukeZaz@beehaw.org wrote:
than they used to be
Than they used to be, when? In the '50s or '60s, when the arms race was in full swing? Yes, I think that is true. But if we compare it with the last 2-3 decades, I do think however that things are gloomier. Firstly, the greater powers were more focused on cooperation rather than confrontation, and they focused more on maintaining the peace rather than creating their own spheres of influence.
I don’t think even the '70s or '80s were like that from a geopolitical standpoint.
