China fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific on Wednesday for the first time in many years. The People's Liberation Army's missile force “fired an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead into the high seas of the Pacific Ocean at 8:44 a.m.”, the Defense Ministry in Beijing announced. It called the “test launch” a “routine measure in our annual training plan.” Beijing was acting in accordance with international law and had informed “the countries concerned” in advance, according to another statement from the state news agency Xinhua. The test was “not directed against any particular country.”
