China's Pacific ally Kiribati criticises Beijing missile launch

By Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Pacific Island nation of Kiribati has issued rare criticism of China over last month's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, saying the Pacific is not "isolated pockets of ocean" and it "does not welcome" Beijing's action.

Kiribati, a Pacific Ocean neighbour of Hawaii with a vast Exclusive Economic Zone of 3.6 million square kms (1.4 million square miles) has developed close ties to Beijing in recent years including hosting Chinese police.

China conducted a rare launch of an ICBM with a dummy war head on Sept. 25 that landed in the Pacific Ocean, which Beijing said was for weapons testing and training, and nations including Fiji, Australia and New Zealand have said was concerning.

Kiribati did not receive notice from China about the missile launch, the Kiribati President's Office said in a statement on social media.

It was told by the Chinese Embassy there was no need to alert Kiribati because the test was not meant to target any country in the Pacific, the statement added.

"Kiribati does not welcome China's recent ICBM test," the statement said. It also criticised other unnamed countries for past weapons tests.

"The high seas in the Pacific are not isolated pockets of oceans, they are part of our Blue Pacific Continent and are parts of Kiribati and therefore we appeal to all countries involved in weapon testing to stop these acts to maintain world peace and stability," it added.

The 18 members of the Pacific Islands Forum, while small in land size and population, have a vast combined maritime zone they refer to as the Blue Pacific Continent and decades ago declared the region a nuclear free zone.

Strategic competition between China and the United States in the region has risen after Beijing struck a security pact with Solomon Islands in 2022.

China, seeking to redevelop a disused U.S. World War Two airfield in Kiribati, has become a major development partner to the atoll nation since it switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan in 2019.

Kiribati will hold a direct vote for president this month, where all four candidates are from incumbent Taneti Maamau's Tobwaan Kiribati Party.

Opposition leader Tessie Lambourne has criticised Maamau's closeness to China, and the absence of any opposition candidates for president. Kiribati held parliamentary elections in August.

The president's office did not respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Michael Perry)