Page 12 - Islands Business October 2024 edition

Cover

in September 2023, France again expressed its refusal to sign lagoon – vital knowledge for a precise nuclear attack. An
the nuclear ban treaty. anti-ballistic missile launch site is located on Meck Island,
Last year, just three days before Christmas, Kiribati and while Gagan and Gellinam islands are equipped with launch
Kazakhstan successfully introduced a resolution at the UN facilities to fire various types of missiles and rockets (test
General Assembly on assistance to nuclear survivors and missiles fired towards Hawai’i can be shot down by US naval
remediation of nuclear test sites. The resolution was passed vessels equipped with Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense systems).
with overwhelming support, in a 161 – 4 – 6 vote. Five nuclear The United States continually tests the missiles that carry
weapons states (United States, China, Israel, India and its strategic nuclear weapons, including land-based ICBMs;
Pakistan) abstained. However, France and the United Kingdom Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs) from Trident
voted with Russia and North Korea as the only four nations in submarines; and nuclear-capable B-52 H bombers, which
the world to oppose the resolution! rotate through US air bases in Guam, Japan and northern
US allies like Australia and New Zealand also expressed Australia. Fearing an overwhelming US first strike using these
concern over China’s action. NZ Foreign Affairs Minister nuclear platforms, China is rapidly expanding the number
Winston Peters described the test an “unwelcome and of silos capable of firing its new long-range nuclear armed
concerning development”, and a spokesperson for the missiles, with construction of an estimated 300 extra ICBM
Albanese government said that “Australia is concerned silos at three missile fields (Ordos, Hami and Yumen).
by any action that is destabilising and raises the risk of However, the buildup of nuclear arsenals and missile
miscalculation in the region, and is consulting regional networks by both Beijing and Washington is creating a vicious
partners about this launch. The launch comes in the context cycle of escalation, which contributes to militarisation of
of China’s rapid military build-up, which is taking place Pacific Island nations, especially in Micronesia.
without the transparency and reassurance that the region The US Defence Department is planning a “360-degree
looks for from great powers”. integrated missile defence system” to be operated from as
It’s noticeable, however, that the first Chinese test into many as 20 different sites across Guam. An August 2024 report
the South Pacific in 44 years received much more attention from the US Defence Threat Reduction Agency suggested that
and criticism than regular and ongoing US missile testing into in a conflict over Taiwan, “Beijing will consider attacking
the Marshall Islands. There was also no mention in media the broader US base infrastructure supporting continued US
reports that the United States remains the only major nuclear operations in the Western Pacific. For these bases, China
weapons state that has refused to ratify the three protocols will likely make a distinction between a base located on a
of the SPNFZ treaty. US territory – such as Andersen Air Force Base (AFB), Guam
and striking Hawai’i. Beijing probably calculates an attack
Kwajalein missile range on Guam will resonate less with US policymakers and the
The United States operates the Ronald Reagan Ballistic US public than an attack on a US state. It may assess, for
Missile Defense Test Site on the US Army Garrison-Kwajalein example, that it can strike Andersen AFB with capabilities
Atoll, under an agreement with Marshall Islands that lasts such as DF-26s – disrupting or even suspending air sorties
until 2066, with an option to renew for another 20 years. from this vital base – without necessarily engendering an
Last June, the US conducted two missile tests in a week, overwhelming US response”.
firing unarmed Minuteman III ICBMs from Vandenberg Space In response, the US military are currently building new
Force Base in California to the test range at Kwajalein Atoll airstrips and logistic facilities across Palau, Federated States
(similar operational launches, known as Glory Tests, are of Micronesia, and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
conducted every year). A previous Minuteman test failed on 1 Islands, to allow rapid dispersal of US forces from military
November 2023, as the US Strategic Command had to destroy bases on Guam to other sites.
the ICBM during its flight over the Pacific Ocean “due to an In January 2018, then-US President Donald Trump
anomaly” during the test. denounced North Korea’s Kim Jong-un as “little rocket man”,
Along with US military bases in Guam and Hawai’i, tweeting that, “I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much
Kwajalein atoll is a crucial installation for US nuclear war bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
fighting strategy. General Anthony Cotton, commander of As we head towards the US presidential elections in
US Strategic Command, witnessed the first of the two ICBM November, this macho posturing is diverting human, technical
tests last June and said, “simply put, the mission of Ronald and financial resources away from the greatest security threat
Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site cannot be completed facing the islands region: climate change. As nuclear weapons
anywhere else on Earth”. states increase their nuclear sabre rattling, the Pacific’s call
Islands dotted around Kwajalein Atoll serve multiple for disarmament and climate action will need to be ramped
purposes. Roi-Namur houses advanced radar systems to track up in coming months.
the exact splashdown of unarmed warheads into Kwajalein

12 Islands Business, October 2024