A missile test by China marks its growing nuclear ambitions
America worries that it is looking to surpass its own capabilities one day
THE LAST time China fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) out over the Pacific, Xi Jinping was 27 years old, China’s GDP per head was less than $200 and America had just lifted an arms embargo on the country. So the missile that rose from Hainan island on September 25th—carrying a dummy warhead and plunging into the waters around French Polynesia, some 12,000km to the east—was a mark of China’s soaring nuclear ambitions.
Explore more
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Making a sPLAsh”
From the October 5th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from China
An outrage that even China’s supine media has called out
Anger is growing over a form of detention linked to torture and deaths
Why foreign law firms are leaving China
A number of them are in motion to vacate
An initiative so feared that China has stopped saying its name
“Made in China 2025” has been a success, but at what cost?
A pay rise for government workers sparks anger and envy in China
The effort to improve morale has not had the intended effect
A big earthquake causes destruction in Tibet
Dozens are dead, thousands of buildings have been destroyed
Militant Uyghurs in Syria threaten the Chinese government
How much does China have to fear?