The timing – on the day the Ocean of Peace Alliance treaty was signed with Fiji – reads as provocation at best, coercion at worst

• Chinese government tells critics not to ‘overinterpret’ missile test in Pacific as criticism grows

At 12.01pm on Monday, a People’s Liberation Army Navy submarine test fired a ballistic missile into the South Pacific nuclear-free zone. This is the second time China has conducted a ballistic missile test in the Pacific in two years.

Coming on the day Fiji became Australia’s fourth formal treaty ally, after the US, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, this test’s timing is interesting. It reads as a provocation at best, outright coercion at worst.

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