News / Military

US anti-missile system threatens China's interests: Beijing

Monday, 15 February 2016 1:42 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 15 February 2016 1:45 PM ]

America's THAAD anti-missile system is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in their terminal phase using a hit-to-kill approach.

China says the possible US deployment of an anti-missile system to the Korean Peninsula is a threat to China's strategic interests, and Beijing will not allow its “national security interests to be damaged.”

The US military announced last week that it will start formal talks with South Korea on placing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) on the North Korea's doorstep.

THAAD is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in their terminal phase using a hit-to-kill approach. The Pentagon made the announcement after North Korea launched a long-range rocket carrying what it called a satellite.

Washington says it wants to deploy the anti-missile system THAAD to the Korean Peninsula as a deterrent against North Korea’s ballistic missile program.

"We are firmly opposed to the relevant country's attempts to damage China's strategic and security interests, with the nuclear issue as an excuse," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters in Beijing on Monday.

China was "seriously concerned about the possible deployment of the THAAD system", he added, saying it "covers a range that is far beyond the needs of defense of the Korean peninsula."

China argues that the THAAD deployment would trigger an arms race in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We will not allow our legitimate rights and national security interests to be damaged," Hong stated.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei

China and the US are at loggerheads over a number of issues, particularly the South China Sea dispute. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the whole of the South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. The waters are believed to sit atop vast reserves of oil and gas.

Washington has sided with China’s rivals in the territorial dispute, with Beijing accusing the US of meddling in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea.

US President Barack Obama is hosting leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a summit which aims to counter what Washington calls China's increasingly assertiveness in the South China Sea.

The two-day summit, which is being held in Rancho Mirage, California on Monday, comes as the US steps up pressure against China.

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