Did US missiles in Philippines trigger China’s rocket launch?

A Chinese rocket launch that triggered loud explosions and panic in the western Philippine province of Palawan has drawn sharp condemnation from Manila, with observers suggesting Beijing may have been sending a geopolitical signal amid growing US missile deployments in the region. The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) confirmed on Monday that China had launched its Long March 12 rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan that afternoon, after residents in Palawan’s capital, Puerto Princesa, and nearby areas reported hearing loud explosions. PhilSA said debris from the launch was expected to fall about 21 nautical miles off Puerto Princesa and 18 nautical miles from the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park – areas previously designated as drop zones. In response, authorities across Palawan monitored the province’s eastern waters for debris after sonic booms were heard across the island. Locals posted photos of smoke and a fiery object falling from the sky on social media. “Did you hear it too? Two loud explosions, as if a drum fell from the sky, were heard,” local news publication Palawan News wrote online on Monday. Local radio station Brigada FM wrote that residents on Monday evening were startled by a loud sound, followed by the ground shaking. While Monday’s launch was not the first time China had tested its rockets near the Philippines, “to our knowledge, this is the first time that this has been experienced by people residing near the designated drop zones”, PhilSA told This Week in Asia. “As the Long March 12 rocket passed over Palawan, its condensation trail became visible and sonic booms were reported to be heard by residents in nearby municipalities,” PhilSA added, a first since China began testing its rockets near the Philippines. National Security Adviser Eduardo Año on Tuesday slammed China’s rocket launch, calling it “irresponsible testing” that alarmed the public “and placed the people of Palawan at risk”. “Loud explosions caused by the Chinese rocket launch caused widespread alarm and concern in Puerto Princesa City and other municipalities, particularly in coastal barangays in the province,” Año said in a statement. “Local residents also saw a fire ball cross the sky that later exploded causing the ground to shake.” Did you hear it too? Two loud explosions, as if a drum fell from the sky, were heard Palawan News, local news publication The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday called on “all spacefaring states to conduct their space activities in a manner consistent with norms of responsible behaviour, and with due regard to the rights and interests of other states”. The country would continue to work with China on “appropriate notification mechanisms on rocket launches” and management of post-launch impacts, it added. The space agency also warned about the dangers from the aftermath of the rocket launch, adding that unburned debris from rockets such as its booster and fairing posed “danger and potential risk to ships, aircraft, fishing boats, and other vessels that will pass through the drop zone”. PhilSA said the debris could wash towards nearby coasts. It did not rule out the “possibility of an uncontrolled re-entry to the atmosphere of the rocket’s upper stages returning from outer space”. Beijing’s displeasure? The timing and proximity of the launch have led some analysts to suggest that Beijing may be signalling its displeasure over the presence of US missile systems in the Philippines – particularly the NMESIS anti-ship missiles and HIMARS artillery rockets – after previously calling for the removal of the Typhon system. “This is not the first time that Chinese rocket debris has fallen into waters close to Philippine shores, but concerns were raised about their increasing intensity and proximity to the country’s shores,” Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, a geopolitical analyst and a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, told This Week in Asia. “It is speculative to say that the locations of the debris signals Beijing’s irritation about its smaller coastal neighbour, but it cannot be discounted.” Palawan – the country’s westernmost province and near the disputed Spratly Islands – hosts sites that permit access to US troops under a defence agreement between Washington and Manila. One of these sites is Balabac Island, a new location “in the extreme south of the frontline province”, according to Pitlo. “Last September, as the US Typhon mid-range missile system stayed despite some reports that it would be pulled out, China staged its first intercontinental ballistic missile test launch in 44 years,” he told This Week in Asia. The missile’s flight path flew close to the site of the Typhon in Ilocos Norte – a northern province facing Taiwan – before terminating in the French Polynesia’s exclusive economic zone in the Pacific Ocean, he added. “As reports of a possible second Typhon deployment surface – apart from Manila already hosting US NMESIS anti-ship missiles – where the recent rocket debris landed may be taken as a manifestation of Beijing’s increasing ire,” Pitlo said. Chester Cabalza, founder and president of the think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, shared similar views. The Long March 12 test launch could be “[Beijing’s] answer to the US’ NMESIS and HIMARS known to be deployed in key strategic locations in the West Philippine Sea and its northern frontline in Luzon”, Cabalza said, noting that the systems were deployed to the Luzon Strait near Taiwan during the annual Balikatan and Kamandag joint military exercises between American and Filipino forces this year. It was possible that China wanted “to test its multipronged dominance in all domains, including aerial space, to weaken Manila’s strong defiance against Beijing”, he said. “What sort of message does it give us if our biggest neighbour would scare civilian Filipinos in Palawan who are not used to exploding rockets?” Cabalza asked. “If they want to rehearse and simulate their rocket testing, China should have done it in their own landlocked territory and not in disputed waters where neighbours may feel unsafe.”

Did US missiles in Philippines trigger China’s rocket launch?

Philippine officials slam China’s ‘irresponsible testing’, while the country’s space agency warns of the dangers from the launch aftermath