Australian PM says Chinese missile test could have caused ‘considerable damage’ if weaponised

A strategic missile launched by a submarine of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy bursts out of the water during a test on Monday. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has said China’s weapons test in the Pacific risks fuelling dangerous nuclear proliferation, with the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired on Monday capable of causing “considerable damage” if weaponised.

International condemnation has grown overnight after China’s state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday that a “strategic missile carrying a dummy warhead” had been launched from a “strategic nuclear submarine of the navy”.