© U.S. Force Korea via AP
China has called for an immediate stop to the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to South Korea.
“China’s position on the THAAD issue has not changed,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said. “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.”
The spokesman didn’t say what kind of “measures” Beijing is going to implement.
The THAAD missile system is designed to intercept warheads of ballistic missiles at the end of the mid-course phase and during the approach to the target. The THAAD protects cities and facilities from ballistic missiles.
Seoul and Washington agreed on the THAAD deployment in July 2016. A pretext of the move is a nuclear missile threat from North Korea.
