Alwaght- China has demanded an immediate halt to the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to South Korea.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang voiced the Beijing’s position against the move during a briefing on Tuesday.
"We oppose the deployment of the US missile system to South Korea and call on all parties to immediately stop this process. We are ready to take necessary measures to protect our interests," he said, adding that “China’s position on the THAAD issue has not changed.”
The spokesperson didn’t specify what protective measures China had in mind. However, responding to the THAAD installation, China announced on Thursday that it will stage live-fire exercises and test new weapons to protect its security.
Russia and China have has previously voiced concerns over the THAAD system saying US has other intensions other than the stated objective in deploying the anti-missile system.
The ground-based THAAD missile system is designed to intercept the warheads of ballistic missiles at the end of the mid-course phase and during the approach to the target, and also to protect cities and key facilities from ballistic missiles - both short-range and strategic ones. A nuclear missile threat from North Korea was named as the reason for the deployment of the THAAD system to South Korea.
Moscow also considers the stationing of the THAAD system to be an “additional destabilizing factor for the region” amid alarmingly increasing tensions. It has called on Washington and Seoul to reconsider the decision.
The defense system, situated on a former golf course in the southern province of Seongju, has reached initial operational capacity.
The deployment of the US defense system has also ignited protests in South Korea, with citizens saying that it would only provoke an attack from their northern neighbor.
The THAAD deployment comes as a part of other US steps to deter North Korea from testing nuclear and non-nuclear missiles. Pyongyang held two failed missiles tests in April, and has also threatened to sink US warships and submarines in South Korean waters in the event of any provocation.
