Chinese military announces successful anti-ballistic missile test

June 20 (UPI) -- China claimed it successfully conducted an anti-ballistic missile test on Sunday, calling the action "defensive in nature."

A brief statement issued Monday by China's Defense Ministry said the "land-based mid-course missile interception test," launched from within its territory, had achieved its "desired objective."

The test "is defensive in nature and not targeted against any country," military officials said.

The announcement marked China's sixth publicly acknowledged ABM test since 2010, with the last coming in February 2021. Most have involved interceptions in the mid-course phase -- the most challenging of the three missile phases because the projectile is traveling outside of the atmosphere at very high velocity, the state-run Chinese tabloid Global Times reported.

The publication quoted a Chinese aerospace expert saying the high success rate of China's tests "shows that the country's land-based mid-course anti-ballistic missile system has become mature and reliable."

Western military analysts said it's likely Beijing has already deployed such an anti-missile system.

The test came amid rising tensions with Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be a breakaway province and has vowed to take by force if necessary.

China has ratcheted up military provocations over Taiwan this year with frequent incursions into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone and combat training exercises near the island -- a practice Taipei calls "gray zone" warfare, meant to strain its defense capabilities and wear down its morale.

At a regional defense forum in Singapore this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Chinese counterpart Gen. Wei Fenghe and expressed concerns about the Chinese military's "unsafe, aggressive, unprofessional behavior."

Meanwhile, China on Friday launched its third and most advanced aircraft carrier, a move aimed at helping Beijing in its efforts to project military power around the region.

The carrier, called Fujian, has a full-load displacement of more than 80,000 tons and is China's first domestically designed and built aircraft carrier.