Wong tells Wang Yi China missile test is 'destabilising'
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Penny Wong raised Australia's concerns directly with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on July 22 in Manila, calling Beijing's earlier missile test "destabilising" and pressing for adherence to international law and the law of the sea.
- China test-fired a ballistic missile with a dummy warhead from a submarine earlier in July, with monitors placing the impact zone in ocean waters between the Solomon Islands, Nauru and Tuvalu.
- Australia previously said it received insufficient advance notice of the launch, and a dozen Pacific Island countries have jointly denounced the test for violating the region's desire to remain free of nuclear weapons testing.
- Wong separately slammed China's "dangerous conduct" over a July 20 clash at Second Thomas Shoal in which a Philippine sailor was allegedly struck on the head with a baton by a Chinese crew member.
- Australia announced on July 21 during Wong's visit to a Philippine coast guard vessel that it would donate 413 million pesos (S$8.6 million) worth of cutting-edge drone technology and operator training to the Philippine Coast Guard.
- Wong made the remarks on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian foreign ministers' meeting in the Philippines, tying Australia's Pacific security concerns to both the missile test and the shoal incident.
Why it matters: Australia paired its diplomatic protest with a concrete S$8.6 million drone package to the Philippine Coast Guard, signaling that its pushback against Chinese assertiveness in the Pacific comes with hardware, not just statements — and the alignment of a dozen Pacific Island states denouncing the missile test shows Beijing is losing the regional narrative on Pacific security.
