Major General John G. Howard: China missile test highlights New Zealand’s fragile trade lifeline

On July 5, the Prime Minister announced plans for free trade agreements with seven more countries, on top of the deal with India he signed in April.

The next day, a Chinese submarine fired a missile from the South China Sea into the Pacific. It splashed down between Nauru and Tonga, in our own neighbourhood. The warhead was a dummy. The message needed no explosives.

The two stories ran a day apart; one filed under trade and the other under defence. They are the same story.