41 countries urge 24-hour notice before long-range ballistic missile launches

The United States and 40 other countries are calling for governments to provide at least 24 hours’ notice before launching long-range ballistic missiles or space rockets, arguing that advance warning would reduce the risk of miscalculation and unintended escalation.

A joint statement issued Tuesday at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva came hours before North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its eastern coast and about a month after China tested a nuclear-capable submarine-launched ballistic missile in the South Pacific.

The countries, including Japan and South Korea, urged governments to notify potentially affected states before launching intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles.

“Recent missile testing activity in the Pacific area did not follow the standard practices adopted by most states to notify and deconflict ICBM, SLBM, and SLV launches,” the statement said.

China notified Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea several hours before last month’s launch.

The U.S.-led group said that was insufficient and called for no less than 24 hours’ notice, including information about the type of missile or rocket, launch area and planned flight direction.

Governments should also issue clear warnings for aircraft and ships near impact areas, the statement said.

“Conducting nuclear-capable ballistic missile tests without sufficient advance notice and detail is dangerous and disrupts the peace and security of relevant nations in proximity to these tests,” the statement said. “It increases the risk of miscalculation, undermines global stability and security, and is incompatible with the responsibilities that come with possessing long-range missile capabilities.”

One hundred forty-five countries, including Russia, participate in the Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation, which includes a prelaunch notification mechanism.

China, North Korea, Pakistan, Israel and Iran do not participate.

Beijing rejected the U.S.-led statement on Wednesday.

Chinese Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs Li Chijiang described it as political manipulation and “microphone diplomacy” that misused the Geneva forum and applied double standards, according to the state-run Global Times.

Li said China’s military modernization should not be questioned and argued that Beijing’s decision to provide notification of its missile launch should not be used for geopolitical purposes, the newspaper reported.

The 41 countries said standardized notification procedures would not restrict any nation’s military development or operational requirements.

“Instead, they reduce the risk of miscalculation, build confidence, and reflect a shared commitment to security,” the statement said.

The appeal follows an Aug. 7 gathering of Pacific island nations in Fiji that failed to produce a consensus statement condemning missile testing in the region.

Most participants supported a denunciation, but Kiribati and the Republic of Naoero opposed it, according to Radio New Zealand.

Most Southeast Asian nations did not join Tuesday’s statement; the Philippines was the notable exception.

Many governments in the region remain reluctant to confront the issue publicly, said Ralph Cossa, former president of the Pacific Forum think thank in Hawaii.

Those countries “continue to follow the ostrich approach; i.e., burying their heads in the sand and pretending nothing is amiss,” he said by email Wednesday.

Many fear economic or diplomatic retaliation from Beijing, said Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore.

But avoiding the issue may carry its own risks, he said by email Wednesday.

“The relative silence in Southeast Asia and the Pacific may be read as acquiescence to escalation and inadvertently result in making some crisis more likely to happen rather than less,” he wrote.