News - Middle East: China on Wednesday test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean amid tensions with the United States. 

The country's defense ministry said the launch of the ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was part of routine training and not aimed at any country or target, 

The People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force, which is in charge of conventional and nuclear missile operations, regularly launches ballistic missiles in China’s remote Xinjiang region or the Bohai Sea, rarely testing ICBMs out in international waters.

According to some experts, the last test-fire of an ICBM dates back to May 1980, when Beijing launched a DF-5 missile into the South Pacific. 

China's latest ICBM, known to be the DF-41, is estimated to have a range of 12,000 to 15,000 kilometers, capable of reaching the US mainland.

Experts say China choosing the Pacific Ocean as the location for test-firing its missile comes across as both a display of its increased nuclear capabilities and as a warning to the United States and its allies in the region.

According to Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul, the ICBM missile test was a clear message to Washington that “direct intervention in a conflict across the Taiwan Strait would involve the American homeland being vulnerable to attack”.

The test also demonstrated Beijing's capability to engage in military activities on several fronts simultaneously, he added.

The Pentagon sought to keep a stiff upper lip, saying it had received “some advanced notification” of the test from Beijing, calling it “a step in the right direction … to preventing any misperception or miscalculation”.