北京时间周三晚间，中国的国防部宣布，该国已成功试射了一枚携带模拟弹头的洲际弹道导弹，并准确落入太平洋海域。此举显示出，在一段时间内经历了腐败丑闻及指挥体系动荡后，国家领导人习近平正在持续加强中国导弹部队。
这次发射是中国自1978年以来首次在公开场合宣布在太平洋区域试射洲际弹道导弹。人民解放军火箭军执行了本次发射任务，并成功击中了远海目标，不过具体位置、导弹型号及发射地点均未公布于众。
国防部表示，此次试射是常规年度训练的一部分，“不针对特定国家或目标”。中国官方通讯社新华社补充称已提前通知了有关国家，但在细节上并未进一步说明。过去，中国的火箭军通常在其本土进行导弹测试。
此举无疑将在周边国家引发疑问，并可能加剧地区对解放军军事扩张的关注与疑虑。专家指出，这类弹道导弹能够在地球上方数百公里的弧线轨道上飞行，具备数千英里的投送能力，这对美国和俄罗斯这样的超级大国核力量构成基础。
新加坡国立大学理查德·拉贾汉国际关系学院高级研究员、前五角大楼官员杜尔·汤森认为：“对于一次向太平洋发射弹道导弹而言，难以隐藏其踪迹，因此宣布这一活动并在一定程度上控制传播的叙述是合理的。”
“这显示了中国的信号。”汤森说，“这样的洲际弹道导弹测试表明，中国在威慑力方面设立了一定界限，并且强调共产党对其风险和脆弱性的深切感知。”
日本、韩国、台湾等亚洲国家对此感到紧张。日方首席副发言人木内康二在周三的例行新闻发布会上表示：“政府正在努力确认细节。”他补充说东京并未提前得知导弹发射的信息，而这一事件也引发了中日空中行动频发的不满。
中国解放军活动缺乏透明度，已成为日本和国际社会的重大关注点，木内康二如是说。
对于美国而言，中国被视为全球军事霸权的主要挑战者之一，特别是亚洲地区。火箭军不仅保管着大量核武器，还有众多具有常规战斗能力的导弹。这与习近平主席加强区域影响力并抵消美国影响力的野心相契合。
不过，过去两年间，解放军内部似乎饱受腐败丑闻困扰，导致多名高层指挥官更换频繁，有的甚至被革职。这次试射可能旨在巩固中国导弹部队及其核威慑能力的可信度，台湾淡江大学助理教授、专门研究人民解放军的林颖宇认为，“此举意在消除外界对中国火箭军实力的疑虑。”
去年的美国政府报告指出，中国正在研发能够显著增强其战略导弹力量的新洲际导弹。同月，美国还关注到中国可能在探索具有核打击能力的新型常规武装洲际弹道系统的可能性。
1980年5月是中国最近一次宣布将洲际弹道导弹发射入太平洋海域的报道时间点。2021年，解放军进行了两次高速滑翔飞行器测试，后者可由导弹携带进入轨道并可能搭载核武器。此外，在中国北方三个地点，已经建设了超过300个能够部署战略导弹的发射井。
请注意，本文旨在忠实反映原文信息，并基于原稿进行了一定的技术性和格式性调整以符合中文读者的阅读习惯和审美偏好，但保持了原始内容的核心意义与语境。
新闻来源：www.nytimes.com
原文地址：China Launched a Rocket With a Dummy Warhead Into the Pacific
新闻日期：2024-09-25
原文摘要：
China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying a dummy warhead that landed in the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, the country’s defense ministry announced, in a sign of President Xi Jinping’s commitment to keep strengthening China’s missile force after a period of corruption scandals and command turbulence. The launch appeared to be the first time in 44 years that China has publicly announced a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Pacific region. It was fired by the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force and struck in the “high seas,” China’s Ministry of National Defense said, without giving details of where the dummy warhead fell, what model of missile carried it or where it was launched. It said the dummy warhead “fell precisely into the assigned seas.” “This missile launch was a routine part of the Rocket Force’s annual exercises,” the ministry said, adding that it “was not aimed at any specific country or target.” China’s official news agency, Xinhua, stated that Beijing had notified “the relevant countries” about the missile test, without elaborating. China usually tests its missiles within its own borders. China’s assurances appeared unlikely to dispel questions about the test from experts and officials in the region. Such missiles fly in an arc high above the earth and can deliver warheads thousands of miles, making them a pillar of each superpower’s nuclear capabilities. China has about 134 intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, that can deliver around 240 warheads, according to an annual survey from the Federation of American Scientists, a bit under half of the numbers fielded by the United States or Russia. “It is difficult to hide a ballistic missile launch into the Pacific, so it is sensible for Beijing to announce that it took place and control the narrative,” said Drew Thomson, a former Pentagon official who is now a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. “China is sending a signal,” Mr. Thomson said. “This ballistic missile test puts China’s adversaries on notice that there are limits to its forbearance, and it also underscores the Communist Party’s acute sense of risk and vulnerability.” Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other Asian governments are anxious about China’s expanding military strength. “The Japanese government is trying to confirm details,” Yoshimasa Hayashi, the chief cabinet secretary in the Japanese government, said at a regular news conference on Wednesday. He said that Tokyo did not receive advance notice about the launch of the missile, which did not appear to fly over Japanese territory. Japan was already upset about recent incursions into its airspace by Chinese and Russian military aircraft. “China’s military activities lack transparency, and that has become a serious concern for Japan and the international community,” Mr. Hayashi said. The Pentagon calls China the “pacing challenge” to the United States’ global military dominance, especially in Asia. The Rocket Force is the custodian of most of China’s nuclear weapons as well as many hundreds of conventionally armed missiles. It has been at the forefront of the ambitions of China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, to project power across the region and blunt American influence. But over the past two years, China’s weapons bureaucracy appeared unsettled by scandal. In 2023, Mr. Xi abruptly replaced the two top commanders of the Rocket Force with outsiders with no experience in the missile force. Other senior officers also disappeared, as did two former Chinese ministers of defense. China may have at least partly intended the launch to reinforce the credibility of its missile forces, and its nuclear deterrent, said Ying-Yu Lin, an assistant professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan who specializes in the People’s Liberation Army. “They would like to dispel doubts abroad about the strength of the Rocket Force,” he said. In June, the Chinese Communist Party leadership expelled the two ministers — Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe — from the party, accusing them of corruption and disloyalty. The following month, party leaders confirmed the expulsions of Li Yuchao, a former Rocket Force commander, and Sun Jinming, a former chief of staff. Even so, the Chinese rollout of new missiles does not seem to have slowed much. The Pentagon’s latest report on the People’s Liberation Army said last year it was developing new intercontinental missiles “that will significantly improve its nuclear-capable missile forces.” The report also said that China “may be exploring” development of conventionally-armed intercontinental ballistic systems. China last announced an intercontinental ballistic missile test into the Pacific Ocean in May 1980, according to Chinese news reports about the latest launch. In 2021, China launched two tests of hypersonic gliders than can be carried into orbit by missiles, potentially with nuclear warheads. The People’s Liberation Army has also built over 300 silos that could house intercontinental ballistic missiles across three sites in northern China.
