{"id":634215,"date":"2026-07-12T14:22:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T14:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=634215"},"modified":"2026-07-12T14:22:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T14:22:41","slug":"chinas-pacific-slbm-test-near-tuvalu-triggers-australia-fiji-mutual-defence-pact-and-pacific-wide-security-alarm-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=634215","title":{"rendered":"China’s Pacific SLBM Test Near Tuvalu Triggers Australia-Fiji Mutual Defence Pact And Pacific-Wide Security Alarm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"
Public Domain<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Please Follow us on <\/em><\/a>Truth Social<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>X<\/em><\/a>\u00a0, <\/em>Youtube<\/em><\/a>\u00a0, <\/em>Minds<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Telegram<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Rumble<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>GETTR<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Gab<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

China\u2019s submarine-launched ballistic missile test on July 6 \u2014 the first SLBM fired into the open Pacific in over 40 years \u2014 has set off a cascading diplomatic and strategic realignment in the Indo-Pacific. The missile, which flew over multiple Pacific islands before splashing down near Tuvalu\u2019s exclusive economic zone, coincided almost to the hour with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signing a mutual-defence agreement with Fiji. Beijing called the launch \u201croutine.\u201d Pacific leaders called it a provocation from a country presenting itself as a partner.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s Defence Industry and Pacific Affairs Minister Pat Conroy said Sunday the test had \u201cdamaged China\u2019s reputation\u201d in the region and strengthened the case for a Pacific-led regional security pact. \u201cI think it demonstrates that Pacific security can only be provided from within the Pacific,\u201d Conroy told ABC\u2019s Insiders. He warned the region was experiencing \u201cthe biggest arms race, the biggest build-up of military since 1945.\u201d Leaders of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu all issued sharp condemnations. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale, who has been the leading advocate for a Pacific Islands Forum security pact, said: \u201cChina is a good friend of the Solomon Islands, but this is not something a friend does.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jerusalem Post and international security analysts noted that the test gave China\u2019s military leadership a rare opportunity to assess its evolving nuclear deterrent\u2019s most sensitive operations \u2014 specifically whether a submarine-launched second-strike capability is credible against U.S. Pacific forces. China did notify the U.S., UK, France, Australia, and New Zealand in advance, but offered no pre-notification to the Pacific island states over whose territory the missile flew. That asymmetry \u2014 alerting major powers, ignoring small sovereignties \u2014 has become the defining grievance driving the push for a regional compact.<\/p>\n

CDM read: This is Beijing\u2019s version of a message sent. The timing \u2014 fired hours after Australia locked in its Fiji mutual-defence pact, while the U.S. Navy is fully committed to the Gulf war \u2014 was not accidental. China is signaling its nuclear deterrent is operational in the Pacific at exactly the moment Washington\u2019s attention is consumed elsewhere. The Australian-Fiji pact is a meaningful development: it is the first formal mutual-defence commitment Australia has signed with a Pacific island state, and it shifts the strategic geometry of the archipelago away from the China-leaning deals some Pacific governments signed in 2022-2024. Whether the Pacific Islands Forum turns this momentum into a formal security pact \u2014 meeting next month \u2014 will be one of the most consequential questions of the year.<\/p>\n

‘NO AD’ subscription for CDM! Sign up here and support real investigative journalism and help save the republic!<\/a><\/h2>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Public Domain Please Follow us on Truth Social, X\u00a0, Youtube\u00a0, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, GETTR, Gab, Instagram China\u2019s submarine-launched ballistic missile test on July 6 \u2014 the first SLBM fired into the open Pacific in over 40 years \u2014 has set off a cascading diplomatic and strategic realignment in the Indo-Pacific. The missile, which flew over… Continue reading China’s Pacific SLBM Test Near Tuvalu Triggers Australia-Fiji Mutual Defence Pact And Pacific-Wide Security Alarm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":634202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-634215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economic-empowerment","category-national-security","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=634215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/634202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=634215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=634215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=634215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}