TAIPEI, Taiwan, Sept 25, (AP): China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, stirring security concerns in the region already tense over Beijing's territorial claims and rivalry with the US. The ICBM carried a dummy warhead and fell into a designated area of the sea, the Defense Ministry said in a statement posted to social media.

The launch by the People's Liberation Army's Rocket Force was part of routine annual training, complied with international law and was not directed against any country or target, according to the statement. It is unclear how often China conducts tests over such a distance. In 1980, China launched an ICBM into the South Pacific.

A map published in Chinese newspapers at the time showed the target area as roughly a circle in the center of a ring formed by the Solomon Islands, Nauru, the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, western Samoa, Fiji and the New Hebrides. The US and non-governmental organizations have said China has been building up its missile silos, but it's unclear how many missiles and nuclear warheads it has added to its arsenal.

The People's Liberation Army, which functions as the ruling Communist Party's military wing, runs China's space program, which has established an orbital station and has ambitions to set up a Moon base and land a spacecraft on Mars. Rocketry has long been part of China's development into a major global power, spurring nationalism and growth that has made China the world's second-largest economy.

The US remains China’s main global rival, although Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and others have territorial disputes with Beijing that occasionally threaten to develop into military clashes. China maintains a "no first use” of nuclear weapons policy, even as its desire for regional predominance grows. Tests of China’s intercontinental ballistic missiles into international waters are rare.

Experts and a historical survey of China’s program by the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative suggest the last occurred in May 1980. That test saw China launch its DF-5 missile into the South Pacific.