China’s Pacific missile launch is a diplomatic misfire

July 7, 2026 — 5:45pm

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China’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch was an impressive display of firepower that appears to have landed on target, in international waters near the tiny island nations of Tuvalu and Nauru.

But the military flex is already looking like a diplomatic misfire. The risk for Beijing is that it boosts, rather than undermines, Australia’s efforts to cement itself as the region’s security partner of choice as the nations compete for influence in the Pacific.

In terms of global sentiment, Chinese President Xi Jinping has benefited greatly from Donald Trump’s moves to gut international aid funding, impose sweeping tariffs and launch a reckless war in Iran that disrupted global oil supplies.

A global study released last month by the Copenhagen-based Alliance of Democracies Foundation found respondents in 65 countries rated the US the biggest threat to the world. Just one country – Japan – rated China as the world’s biggest threat.

Firing a nuclear-capable warhead across thousands of kilometres in the Pacific – with........

© The Age