A U.S.-led proposal released by the State Department on August 11, and backed by 40 other nations, was promoted at the plenary in Geneva of the Conference on Disarmament, giving language for conditions for test missile firings that requires a 24-hour notice before any missile firings. This came in response to the Chinese July 6 firing of a missile carrying a dummy nuclear warhead, from a nuclear submarine lying off the coast, into the Pacific.
The missile launch indicated that China was well on its way in the development of its own nuclear triad, with this first launch of a ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine that traveled 7,300 kilometers into the Pacific Ocean. This is the first reported launch of a Chinese missile into the Pacific Ocean. Coincidentally or not, this occurred a day after Fiji and Australia had signed a mutual defense treaty.
China sees the U.S. proposal simply as an attempt to limit its defense capabilities, and has responded through its ambassador to the ongoing Geneva Conference, and today at the Foreign Ministry briefing.
