China on Wednesday test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean amid tensions with the United States. 

The country’s defense ministry said the launch of the ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was part of routine training and not aimed at any country or target, 

The People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force, which is in charge of conventional and nuclear missile operations, regularly launches ballistic missiles in China’s remote Xinjiang region or the Bohai Sea, rarely testing ICBMs out in international waters.

According to some experts, the last test-fire of an ICBM dates back to May 1980, when Beijing launched a DF-5 missile into the South Pacific. 

China’s latest ICBM, known to be the DF-41, is estimated to have a range of 12,000 to 15,000 kilometers, capable of reaching the US mainland.

Experts say China choosing the Pacific Ocean as the location for test-firing its missile comes across as both a display of its increased nuclear capabilities and as a warning to the United States and its allies in the region.

According to Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul, the ICBM missile test was a clear message to Washington that “direct intervention in a conflict across the Taiwan Strait would involve the American homeland being vulnerable to attack”.

The test also demonstrated Beijing’s capability to engage in military activities on several fronts simultaneously, he added.

The Pentagon sought to keep a stiff upper lip, saying it had received “some advanced notification” of the test from Beijing, calling it “a step in the right direction … to preventing any misperception or miscalculation”.

Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden hosted the Quadrilateral Summit at the Archmere Academy in Wilmington, Delaware.

During a leaders’ meeting of the so-called Quad alliance between the US, Australia, India, and Japan, Biden said the grouplet is “here to stay”, pledging to deepen the partnership amid growing tensions with China.

During his talks, intended for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, which was recorded on a hot mic, Biden claimed China had adopted an increasingly assertive stance in the Pacific Ocean region.

He told the leaders of Australia, India and Japan that “aggressive” China is “testing us.”

“China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region, and it’s true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Straits,” Biden was heard in what was supposed to be behind-closed-doors remarks to the Quad grouping of four countries.

Biden added that while Chinese President Xi Jinping was focused on “domestic economic challenges”, he was also “looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interest.”

He then claimed that Washington was making “intense efforts” to reduce tensions with Beijing, including a phone call to the Chinese leader in April, to prevent direct conflict between the countries.

In past years, Washington and Beijing have been at loggerheads over a slew of issues, including China’s partnership with Russia, the origin of the COVID virus, bilateral trade tariffs, technological theft, espionage, Chinese Taipei and territorial claims, among other disputed topics.