China has told regional governments it will fire a nuclear-capable missile with a dummy warhead into the South Pacific within 24 hours, according to a report by The Australian, hours after Anthony Albanese signed a landmark defence treaty with Fiji.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was among those pre-warned about the test, The Australian reported, citing briefings given by Chinese embassies to regional governments on Monday.
"In the next 24 hours a new missile with a dummy warhead will be fired by China in the South Pacific," a high-level source told the paper.
The source said a Chinese ambassador passed on the warning at about 12.30pm AEST.
A second high-level source told The Australian the move appeared to be retaliation for the new Ocean of Peace Alliance signed between Mr Albanese and Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka on Monday. It's not yet clear when or where the missile will be fired.
The treaty that set Beijing off: Albanese and Rabuka signed it hours earlier in Suva
Mr Albanese and Mr Rabuka signed two treaties at State House in Suva on Monday: the Ocean of Peace Alliance and the Vuvale Union. The alliance makes Fiji just the fourth country Australia holds a formal defence pact with, and the Sydney Morning Herald reports Australia will spend $1 billion on the partnership.
The deal has been widely read as a direct check on Beijing's push for security footholds in the Pacific. Mr Rabuka has previously said he wants Fiji's region free of foreign military bases, telling the National Press Club last year that Fiji would not welcome a Chinese base in the Pacific.
If the timing holds, China's answer to the signing ceremony arrived the same day, in the form of a missile warning.
China has done this before: the September 2024 ICBM launch that rattled the Pacific
Beijing has form here. In September 2024, China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean, its first such launch into international waters since 1980. The missile came down near French Polynesia's exclusive economic zone.
That launch was criticised by Fiji, Australia and New Zealand, with Pacific leaders saying the region should not be a testing ground for great-power weapons. Beijing called it "routine" training and said it was not aimed at any country.
Analysts saw the 2024 test as a blunt signal of China's expanding nuclear reach. The Pentagon estimated China had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads and was on track to exceed 1,000 by 2030.
What it means for Australia: Beijing is answering treaties with missiles
For Australian readers the message is hard to miss. Canberra signs a defence pact with a Pacific neighbour, and within hours Beijing is telling governments across the region to expect a missile in the water.
Australia has been steadily hardening the region against exactly this pressure. The US is planning a permanent war stockpile on Australian soil to put weapons beyond China's missile reach, and One News has previously reported on Washington's wider campaign against China's global energy network.
The Chinese embassy in Canberra hasn't publicly commented on the reported briefing. The federal government hasn't confirmed the details of what Senator Wong was told.
More to come.
