U.S. allies are spooked following China's test-firing of a long-range ballistic missile in the Pacific Ocean, according to news reports.
The missile, launched from a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine, was "not directed against any specific country or target," according to a report from Xinhua, China's official news agency.
But officials from Australia, New Zealand, and Japan condemned the test, with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong criticizing it as "destabilizing."
"Australia has been clear that this proposal, this proposed test, is in the context of a rapid military buildup by China, which is lacking in the transparency and reassurance as to intent, that the region expects," she told reporters while visiting Fiji, where the countries signed a major defense alliance.
New Zealand described the test as an "unwelcome and concerning development."
"We, like our neighbors in other Pacific countries, have no interest in China using the South Pacific as a testing site for missile capability," Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
Japan's Defense Ministry expressed concern about China's increasing military activity and urged Beijing to "rethink" its missile testing so that the projectiles would not fly over Japan or pose other security risks.
"China's military activities, combined with its lack of transparency, have become a grave concern for Japan and the international society," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said in Japan, citing Beijing's military activities around Japan and its increased military spending.
The concern is a result of a lack of clear information, said Drew Thompson, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore: "China's military modernization and buildup have occurred without concurrent increases in openness and transparency, resulting in uncertainty about China's intentions."
Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis, said the launch was the first publicly acknowledged test with a dummy warhead from a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine of the Chinese navy to travel this far into the Pacific.
Morris said it is noteworthy that the available information shows Japan, New Zealand, and Australia received advance notifications, while the United States did not.
The test was a signal to the U.S., he said: "The announcement demonstrates that China's nuclear deterrent is no longer centered solely on land-based missiles."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.