China says latest anti-ballistic missile test ‘achieved objective’

Land-based mid-course interceptor was tested within Chinese borders and not aimed at any country, according to defence ministry

It’s the sixth publicly announced test since 2010 and military analysts say it is likely the system has already been deployed

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The anti-ballistic missile test was conducted on Sunday night. Photo: CCTV

Published: 7:32pm, 20 Jun 2022

China carried out a successful anti-ballistic missile test on Sunday night, its defence ministry said, a year after the last one.

The land-based mid-course missile was tested within China’s borders and “achieved its objective”, the Ministry of National Defence said in a brief statement. It said the missile test was defensive in nature and not aimed at any country.

It is China’s sixth publicly announced land-based anti-ballistic missile test since 2010. The last such missile interceptor test was in February 2021.

Shao Yongling, a military expert who was previously with the People’s Liberation Army missile force, told state broadcaster CCTV on Monday that the technology was aimed at protecting the country’s nuclear capabilities.

“The development of our nuclear force is very limited,” she said in the report on the latest test. “[That means] we must ensure the survivability of our nuclear force.”

The test was announced as China’s nuclear build-up has been in the spotlight. Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe told a regional security summit earlier this month that the country had made “impressive progress” in developing new nuclear weapons, which he said were useful to prevent a war.

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