By: Tess Ikonomou/AAP
Pacific Island nations are sending a “message” to China following its missile test, with Australia, New Zealand, the Marshall Islands and Palau joining a US-led call for advance notice for future launches.
Australia has joined a US-led push for nations to provide advance notice of missile launches, as a group of Pacific nations respond to China’s test firing in the region.
Within hours of Australia’s signing of a mutual-defence pact with Fiji in July, China confirmed a nuclear-capable missile had been launched from a submarine into the region, which was believed to have landed near Tuvalu.
Beijing was widely criticised internationally over the missile test, with a number of Pacific Island nations adopting a stronger public stance against their key economic partner.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong were in Suva when the missile test occurred.
The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) foreign ministers meeting held last Friday published its outcomes document on Wednesday, calling for states conducting missile launches into the region to respect the sovereignty of those nations.
“These statements show the broad regional and international consensus – including from PIF foreign ministers – about the need for transparency, reassurance and respect for the sovereignty of Pacific countries,” Senator Wong said on Wednesday.
“That message should be taken seriously.
“Australia will continue to work constructively with international partners to shape a peaceful, stable, prosperous region.”
In a statement published by the US state department, Australia joined 40 other nations to call for “all relevant countries” to commit to providing no less than 24 hours’ notice of launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles to affected nations.
Palau, which is hosting the Pacific Islands Forum in September, the Marshall Islands and New Zealand are the only other regional signatories.
“Recent missile testing activity in the Pacific area did not follow the standard practices adopted by most states to notify and deconflict … launches,” the statement reads.
“Conducting nuclear-capable ballistic missile tests without sufficient advance notice and detail is dangerous and disrupts the peace and security of relevant nations in proximity to these tests.
“It increases the risk of miscalculation, undermines global stability and security, and is incompatible with the responsibilities that come with possessing long-range missile capabilities.”
This requirement applied “particularly” to nuclear-weapon states and notifications should include information about the “generic class of the ballistic missile or SLV (submarine-launched ballistic missiles), the planned launch notification window, the launch area, and the planned direction”.
Senator Wong at the time said the government had been notified ahead of time.
Governments in the joint statement include the United States of America, Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Montenegro, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Palau, Philippines (the), Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
