Peace alliance hits China’s missile test, nixes US-led war games in Indo-Pacific
- Admin
- 20 minutes ago
- 4 min read
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
An alliance of peace organizations has called on Pacific Island leaders to oppose missile tests and military exercises in the region, which is increasingly becoming a theater for geopolitical competition among the world’s superpowers.
"The Pacific Ocean is far more than a strategic waterway; it is the foundation of our cultures, identities, livelihoods and futures," the Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organizations Alliance said in a statement. "It sustains our
communities, connects our islands, and underpins our sovereignty and self-determination."
The alliance issued the call on the heels of China’s missile test launched into the South Pacific last week, at the height of the U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise, a 31-nation combat drill that tests new tools and tactics to enhance the Indo-Pacific region's integrated fighting force.
The organization's condemnation of military activity in the region applies across the board.
“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 PRNGO alliance said.
The peace organization also opposes large-scale military exercises, including RIMPAC, Valiant Shield and Talisman Saber.
Missile tests in the Pacific have become increasingly commonplace in recent years.
China's missile test this year was preceded by a test launch of its new DF-26D missile into the Pacific Ocean on Sept. 3, 2025. Two months later, the U.S. military test-launched a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, which flew over the Marshall Islands.
“We equally oppose the recent Chinese ICBM test, and the continued testing of Minuteman III ICBMs by the United States over the Pacific, alongside the expansion of military alliances and strategic military partnerships," PRNGO said, referring to groups such as AUKUS and Quad.
The Pacific Island region has been caught in a tug-of-war between Washington and Beijing, both trying to woo the island states with aid and investment.
For fiscal 2027, the U.S. government is proposing $384.5 million for the repair of Palau’s port facilities and $169 million for the rehabilitation of Yap’s airport runway.
These proposed projects are only a fraction of the more than $2 billion in defense investment the U.S. plans to pour into Palau and Yap, both of which are part of the Pentagon's agile combat employment, or ACE, map. ACE is an operational concept that disperses forces across multiple locations to complicate enemy targeting and maintain combat power in contested environments.
China has been boosting its cash diplomacy as well, targeting not just individual island nations but also the influential Pacific Islands Forum.
Earlier this month, Beijing donated $1.08 million to the Forum to support the organization’s priorities under the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
While individual leaders have raised concerns over China’s missile test last week, the Forum has not issued a formal position on the issue.
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Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. and Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Penitala Teo denounced China’s missile test.
“When China acts in very opaque or secretive launches like this, it raises anxiety, fear and causes great concern for all of us that live on these islands that want to live in peace and harmony,” Whipps said in an interview with RNZ Pacific.
Teo noted that China’s missile launch ran counter to the Pacific island countries’ bid for a nuclear-free Blue Pacific Continent, in line with the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone Treaty, to which Tuvalu is a party.
“The launch comes at a time when Pacific island countries are reaffirming
their collective vision of the Pacific as a region of peace, security, and cooperation as espoused in the Pacific Ocean of Peace Declaration adopted by Pacific Leaders only last year in Honiara, Solomon Islands in September 2025,” Teo said.
The Marshall Islands government earlier called on China “to explain its intentions in language as clear as the harm such tests can cause and to recognize that a region asking for peace is not a region inviting a demonstration of force.”
Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands are among Taiwan’s 12 remaining allies.
In American Samoa, Gov. Pulaali’i Nikolao Pula said China’s advanced technology and power projection in the region underscored the need for the U.S. government to boost the territory’s defense capabilities.
“For 126 years, we have been an integral part of the United States,” Pula said. “There is no more logical or effective location for America to demonstrate credible power, presence and partnership in this part of the world than right here.”
On Guam, the Pentagon plans to install an $1.8 billion missile defense system touted as a deterrent against China’s threats.
The PRNGO alliance, however, rejects the notion that military deterrence delivers peace.
“Escalating military competition is fundamentally inconsistent with the Pacific's aspiration for an Ocean of Peace,” it said. “As the Treaty of Rarotonga approaches its 40th anniversary, Pacific governments should reaffirm and strengthen one of the region's most enduring commitments to peace and security.”
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