A coalition of Pacific regional civil society organisations has condemned China’s recent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test across the Pacific Ocean and called on Pacific leaders to reject all missile tests and military expansion in the region, regardless of which country is responsible.
In a joint statement, the Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGO) Alliance said it “unequivocally condemns the recent test of a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by the People’s Republic of China across the Pacific Ocean.”
“We oppose all forms of militarisation and nuclear threats in the Pacific, irrespective of which state is responsible.
We cannot condemn missile tests, military build-ups and strategic military expansion undertaken by one power, while remaining silent when comparable actions are undertaken by another.”
The alliance also criticised continued United States missile testing over the Pacific, the expansion of military alliances, including AUKUS, large-scale military exercises such as RIMPAC, Valiant Shield and Talisman Sabre, and the expansion of foreign military presence and infrastructure across the region.
“For Pacific peoples, this is not an abstract geopolitical contest. It is our home.”
The statement was issued during a month marking several nuclear anniversaries in the Pacific, including the 80th anniversary of Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll, the 60th anniversary of France’s first nuclear test at Moruroa Atoll, the 41st anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, and the ninth anniversary of the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The alliance said these anniversaries remain a lived memory for Pacific peoples and that another missile crossing the Pacific “cannot be separated from that history.”
It said the Pacific’s vision of becoming an Ocean of Peace is based on justice, sovereignty, self-determination, environmental stewardship and the wellbeing of its people, not military deterrence.
“The PRNGO Alliance rejects the notion that military deterrence delivers peace. Escalating military competition is fundamentally inconsistent with the Pacific’s aspiration for an Ocean of Peace.”
The alliance also called on Pacific governments to reaffirm the Treaty of Rarotonga as it approaches its 40th anniversary, describing it as the foundation of the region’s commitment to peace and security.
It urged Pacific leaders to unequivocally condemn all missile tests conducted in or across the Pacific Ocean, reject the continued militarisation of the Blue Pacific, strengthen the Treaty of Rarotonga, support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and ensure any future Ocean of Peace framework is Pacific-led and centred on human security, environmental protection, Indigenous rights, decolonisation and demilitarisation.
“The Pacific has already paid the price of being treated as a testing ground, a military frontier, and a dumping ground for other nations’ ambitions.
“The Pacific Ocean is not a theatre for great-power rivalry. It is our home. It is the foundation of our cultures, identities, livelihoods and futures.”
The statement was issued by the PRNGO Alliance and endorsed by the Pacific Conference of Churches, the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO), the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN), the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) and Oxfam in the Pacific.
