THAAD litmus test for US-China ties

POLICY STANCE: Beijing waiting to see whether Trump goes ahead with deployment of anti-missile system

WHETHER President-elect Donald Trump goes through with the deployment of a United States anti-missile system in South Korea will be a key indicator to how political relations unfold with China, sources with ties to the leadership in Beijing said.

South Korea and the US have agreed to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system to counter missile threats from North Korea. It was expected to be in place within eight to 10 months, the commander of US forces in South Korea said earlier this month.

China has argued that the planned deployment undermined strategic stability in Northeast Asia, and worries that THAAD’s powerful radar provides coverage of China’s missile installations.

“Whether deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence is delayed is a political weather vane,” one source said.

A security adviser to Trump said last week his meeting in New York with Abe yesterday might mark the start of talks to garner Tokyo’s support for a push-back against China’s growing influence in Asia.

“We have heard what he said. We will now watch what he does,” said the source, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.

Trump has created doubts over his commitment to security alliances with Japan and South Korea, suggesting they need to pay more for a US military presence and even hinting they should develop their own nuclear weapons capability.

Japan going nuclear would be China’s worst nightmare and is likely to provoke strong reaction, diplomats and analysts have said.

China’s relations with Japan have long been poisoned by what Beijing sees as Tokyo’s failure to fully atone for its invasion and occupation of parts of China before and during World War 2, as well as competing claims over a group of East China Sea islets.

“Northeast Asia would be a powder keg,” a second source said, referring to a nuclearised sub-region including China, Japan, and North and South Korea.

Sino-US relations after Trump takes office on Jan 20 are expected to be fluid, although Chinese President Xi Jinping told Trump during a telephone call on Monday cooperation was the “only correct choice” for the two giants.

A statement from Trump’s presidential transition office said the two men “established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another” and he believes the two countries will have one of the strongest relationships moving forward. Reuters