At 12.01pm on Monday, a People’s Liberation Army Navy submarine test fired a ballistic missile into the South Pacific nuclear-free zone. This is the second time China has conducted a ballistic missile test in the Pacific in two years.

Coming on the day Fiji became Australia’s fourth formal treaty ally, after the US, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, this test’s timing is interesting. It reads as a provocation at best, outright coercion at worst.

It is not likely this was a spur-of-the-moment test. Even for a military whose sophistication has grown immensely over the past decades, and will continue to do so, these things take time. That said, it is possible the signing of the Ocean of Peace Alliance pact caused it to move the test up the timetable.

Washington, of course, looms large in Beijing’s thinking, and will be taking note. But what does it mean for Australia and its regional partners?

China has followed the letter of the law in informing........

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