It is a land-based mid-course missile that has been tested within China’s borders, the ministry said in a brief statement, adding that the test is defensive in nature and not anti-country.
Anti-ballistic missile systems are designed to protect a country from possible attack by using projectiles to intercept incoming missiles, including ICBMs. Some analysts liken it to shooting a bullet with another bullet.
According to the state tabloid Global Times, this is China’s sixth known test of a land-based anti-ballistic missile. The country has been conducting such tests since 2010, usually every few years.
According to state media, China last launched a ballistic missile defense test in February 2021 before Sunday.
“China plans to build a multi-layered missile defense system consisting of multiple components,” said Tong Zhao, senior fellow in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Nuclear Policy Program.
These efforts aim to combat short-range, medium-range, and long-range missiles; So far, China has developed HQ9 and HQ19 missile defense systems for the first two, and has not yet publicly announced the development of a system capable of intercepting long-range and ICBMs, Zhao said.
It is unclear which system was being tested on Sunday as Chinese officials did not release any further information.
But judging by the size of the closed airspace, it could have been the mid-range HQ19, similar to the US’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, or some other new mid-course system, Zhao said.
It looks similar to the “hit-to-kill” missiles deployed by the US, he added, referring to technology that allows the interceptor to hit and completely destroy incoming threats.
The test comes amid rising tensions in the region, with a recent spate of missile tests out of North Korea, including short-range ballistic missiles and a suspected ICBM. South Korean and US officials have also warned that renewed activity at North Korea’s nuclear test site suggests the country could conduct a nuclear test any day – its first since 2017.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in May, has promised – and suggested – a tougher stance on North Korea try to install a second anti-ballistic missile system.
2016, when South Korea announced it would deploy the US-built THAAD system, sparking a year-long diplomatic feud with China, which argued the missile defense system would endanger its own national security.
Designed to launch short, medium, and medium-duty ballistic missiles, THAAD is used by the US military to protect units in places like Guam and Hawaii.
Despite its criticism of South Korea’s use of THAAD, China has good reasons to develop its own missile shield program, Zhao said.
“China simply must not lag behind in this important area of military-technological competition,” he said. “China looks to other great powers. The US is the primary concern, but Russia is also developing increasingly powerful missile defense technologies.”
And although North Korea’s missile tests have alarmed South Korea and Western observers, Beijing’s friendly relationship with the north means it is likely more concerned about threats from other sources — such as from India, with which it has long shared simmering border tensions, and the US. which has deployed military assets in the region near China.
In early May, China criticized the United States for deploying intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the Asia-Pacific region, saying it has “serious negative implications” for international arms control.