China appears on verge of first ICBM launching

May 9, 1980

There are signs that China is preparing to launch its first intercontinental ballistic missile test ever, directed from the west China launching site to an impact point in the Pacific Ocean, according to intelligence experts. If carried out, the test would presumably be of China's CSS- X-4 experimental missile, believed to have a range of about 7,000 miles and therefore able to hit any point in the Soviet Union and most points in North America, Monitor correspondent John Cooley reports.