US Army chief tells China that missile shield on Korean peninsula poses no threat to its security
US and South Korea argue system needed to counter threat of North Korean missile attack, but move has angered Beijing
The US Army chief of staff told Chinese officials during a visit on Tuesday that China should not feel threatened by American ally South Korea’s decision to deploy a powerful US-developed missile defence system.
General Mark A. Milley met with his Chinese counterpart General Li Zuocheng and other senior People’s Liberation Army leaders amid strong Chinese protests over the decision to base the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, or THAAD, system south of the South Korean capital Seoul.
Milley reiterated the American position that the defence system was intended to destroy possible North Korean missiles and not to track missiles inside China or pose a threat to the nation, the US Army said in a statement.
Chinese state media have published daily attacks against the US and South Korea over the missile defence system and China has cancelled events involving South Korean entertainers. China also appears to be withholding support at the United Nations for condemnations of North Korea’s missile programmes.
Milley’s visit also comes amid friction following an international arbitration panel’s ruling last month that invalidated China’s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea. China angrily rejected the verdict and has vowed to continue developing man-made islands which the US says have exacerbated tensions in the strategically crucial region.