China, South Korea war of words over missile threat
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping told his South Korean counterpart that China opposes the US deployment of the Thaad anti-missile system in South Korea, Xinhua reported yesterday.
China has repeatedly expressed anger since the US and South Korea made a final decision in July to deploy the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (Thaad) system in the South to counter missile and nuclear threats from North Korea.
“Mishandling the issue is not conducive to strategic stability in the region and could intensify disputes,” Xinhua quoted Xi as telling Park Geunhye in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
Park, Xi and leaders from the Group of 20 economies are meeting in Hangzhou.
Beijing worries the system’s radar will be able to track its military capabilities.
North Korea, which had threatened a “physical response” against the Thaad decision, has conducted a series of military technology tests this year, including a fourth nuclear test in January, in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions tightened in March.
It fired a missile on August 24 that flew about 500km towards Japan, a show of improving technological capability for the isolated country.
“North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and ballistic missile provocations this year have gravely damaged peace on the Korean peninsula and the region and posed a challenge to the development of South Korea-China ties,” Park told Xi, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Officials in South Korea and the US have tried to assuage Chinese fears, insisting that the move is designed purely to counter growing missile threats from North Korea, and not to target China. – Reuters