China fires second Pacific missile test in 22 months, hours after notifying Wellington

China tested a nuclear-capable ballistic missile in the South Pacific on 6 July, within hours of informing New Zealand. Foreign Minister Winston Peters called it "unwelcome" and said it breaches the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone established by the Treaty of Rarotonga. The test marks the second Chinese missile launch into the region since September 2024 — a pattern Peters warned should not become normalised.