Island states denounce missile test in ‘blue continent’

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Pacific Islands denounced China’s ballistic missile test because they say it landed in the heart of their shared “blue continent,” politicians and analysts told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Even Pacific nations indebted to Beijing joined criticism of Monday’s submarine-launched ballistic missile test, which reached far into the Pacific Ocean.

The term “Blue continent” is used by Pacific Islands to describe a joint home and shared stewardship of the ocean.

The nuclear-capable missile fitted with a dummy warhead landed somewhere between Nauru, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands, according to monitors and Pacific officials.

The reported landing spot lies amidst the Pacific islands, but in one of the few patches between them that is not part of an exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

China said the missile test “was not directed at any country” and breached no international law.

But Palau President Surangel Whipps, who will host an annual meeting of Pacific leaders next month, said the missile landed “right between our EEZs.”

“We have missiles going right into the heart of the Pacific, unannounced,” he said in an interview with AFP.

China’s Pacific envoy had days earlier met with the Pacific Islands Forum, after Beijing donated $1 million to the regional bloc, but made no mention of a looming test.