China Downplays Report of Troubling New Missile

China is calling a report that it made a potentially large leap in the global arms race inaccurate. Over the weekend, the Financial Times reported that Beijing tested a rocket with a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile. The "test showed that China had made astounding progress on hypersonic weapons and was far more advanced than US officials" realized, the article asserted. As their name suggests, such weapons would be much more difficult for defense systems to intercept. However, a rep for the Chinese government on Monday described the test as routine stuff unrelated to its military.

"This was not a missile, this was a spacecraft," said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, per the BBC. "This is of great significance for reducing the cost of spacecraft use." Specifically, he said the July test was part of research on reusable spacecraft. However, the FT story, quoting five unnamed sources, says it was indeed a missile, one that flew through low-space orbit before missing its target by a relatively scant 25 miles or so, per Axios. "This test should serve as a call to action," said a statement from GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher in the wake of the initial report. "If we stick to our current complacent course—or place our hopes in bankrupt buzzwords like 'integrated deterrence'—we will lose the New Cold War with Communist China within the decade." (More China stories.)