Australia has been warned that China is set to fire a nuclear-capable missile with a dummy warhead in the South Pacific within the next 24 hours.
China gave briefings about the testing to governments on Monday.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was one of several people given advance warning.
‘In the next 24 hours a new missile with a dummy warhead will be fired by China in the South Pacific,’ a high-level source told The Australian.
The exact time and location of the missile launch are unknown.
Another source claimed the move came in retaliation after Anthony Albanese and Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka signed the Ocean of Peace Alliance on Monday.
The alliance includes mutual defence obligations, stating an armed attack on any of the parties within the Pacific ‘would be dangerous to each other’s peace and security as well as the security of the Pacific’.
The document also opens up the alliance to other Pacific nations.
‘The parties may, by unanimous consent, invite any other Pacific state in a position to further the purposes and principles of this treaty and to contribute to the security of the Pacific,’ it reads.
Australia has mutual defence pacts with the US, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, called the PukPuk treaty, which comes into effect on Wednesday.
Australia has been warned that China is set to fire a nuclear-capable missile with a dummy warhead in the South Pacific within the next 24 hours
