Special to WorldTribune, July 17, 2026 Real World News
Geostrategy-Direct, July 14, 2026
China’s test flight of a nuclear-capable, submarine-launched ballistic missile — its first since 1988 — delivered a shock and drew widespread regional and U.S. condemnation.
Joseph Wu, secretary general of the Taiwan National Security Council, posted a map on social media showing the flight path of what he called a JL-2 underwater-launched missile.
According to the map, the missile was fired from a submarine in coastal waters off the southern Guangdong province coast and flew southeast over the northern tip of the Philippines and into the South Pacific.
The missile passed south of the U.S. island territory of Guam, then north of the archipelago nation of Palau and near the microstate island of Nauru before impacting in the sea.
“It’s a provocation that destabilizes the #IndoPacific,” Wu wrote. “#China just proved itself again to be a bully on the block.”
Related: China’s first-strike nuclear capability? Submarine-launched missile triggers ‘breakout’ alarm, July 7, 2026
Analysts note that Taiwan’s intelligence on China has been accurate in the past.
The missile traveled about 4,000 miles, well within what the Pentagon gauges as the JL-2’s range.
The JL-2 has a range of up to 7,456 miles and can be armed with a single megaton warhead or up to eight multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, or MIRVs, with yields of 20 kilotons to 150 kilotons. A kiloton is the explosive power a thousand tons of TNT.
The missiles are deployed on six People’s Liberation Army Jin-class nuclear submarines.
China’s government has not disclosed any details about the test, highlighting the extreme secrecy surrounding what U.S. officials have called an unprecedented nuclear buildup.
The U.S. State Department said it monitored the test closely and criticized Beijing for nuclear proliferation and failing to engage in arms control talks on its strategic weapons.
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Flight path of China’s sub-launched nuclear missile test passed Philippines, Guam added by Editor Two on
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