US using deployment of missile system in the ROK as way to pressure China

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a discussion on Chinese foreign policy and China-US Relations at Center for Strategic and International Studies(CSIS) in Washington D.C., the United States, on Feb 25, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

THE DEPLOYMENT OF a US missile defense system in the Republic of Korea seems to have been delayed after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited the United States last week. A joint working group between Washington and Seoul on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, which was due to begin work last Tuesday, was delayed at the request of the US. However, the postponed deployment of THAAD does not mean the US government has given up on it, Beijing News warned on Monday:

Whether or not the anti-missile system will be deployed in the ROK, has a lot to do with China's stance on sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea after the DPRK conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan 6 and launched an Earth-observation satellite apparently to test ballistic missile technology on Feb 7.

Washington has refused to give a definite answer as to whether the system will be deployed in the ROK, and it will use it as a bargaining chip to pressure China.

True, the regional security mechanism that has failed to work is to blame for the escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, especially when it comes to the DPRK's nuclear issue. But what Pyongyang will do in response to the risk of being isolated by the international community remains unpredictable, and thus should be carefully and primarily dealt with.

Unlike Washington that seeks regional leadership through its maneuvering over the deployment of THAAD, Beijing only wants to get Pyongyang back to the negotiating table with the help of the international community. That explains why it has been more open toward imposing sanctions on the DPRK this time.

Although they have stalled, it is thanks to the Six-Party Talks and their legacy that there has been no major military clash in Northeast Asia.

However, the outgoing US President Barack Obama is still bent on implementing the US' "rebalancing to Asia-Pacific", which is upsetting the regional security and geopolitical order. All parties concerned should be very careful about tackling both the peninsula's nuclear issue and the deployment of THAAD.