Australia news live: China missile test ‘not something a friend does’, Solomon Islands PM says in joint appearance with Albanese

According to The Guardian World, tensions are rising in the Pacific over a Chinese long-range missile test that Beijing itself says is nuclear-capable. Speaking alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Solomon Islands' leader said the launch was, quote, 'not something a friend does.' Australia's defence minister, Richard Marles, told ABC News he doubted the test was timed to Albanese's Pacific trip to sign a new defence alliance with Fiji, but called the demonstration deeply destabilising. Marles said the real concern is a dramatic Chinese military buildup with no strategic reassurance to the region, and, in his words, no explanation for why those capabilities are being built. Albanese, meanwhile, said work on a comprehensive treaty is advancing, paired with new Australian health and education funding for the Pacific.

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