Tokyo | China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean in what appeared to be its first such public test in some four decades – a display of military might that comes as the US convenes world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.

The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force launched the ICBM with a “dummy warhead” on Wednesday morning, the nation’s military said. The missile fell into the “expected” area, it added, without clarifying where that was. ICBMs are designed to carry a nuclear warhead to a target several thousand kilometres away.

Bloomberg