China Claims US Secretly Deploys 4 more THAAD

 China Claims US Secretly Deploys 4 more THAAD Missile systems to S Korea

China urges US to pull THAADs out of South Korea after secretive deployment

China has again urged the US to remove its THAAD anti-missile system from South Korea, following reports that additional launchers were brought into the country secretly, without even Korean President Moon Jae-in being informed.

China is “gravely concerned” by reports that four extra THAAD launchers were delivered to South Korea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

“The deployment of THAAD by the US in the ROK (Republic of Korea) jeopardizes China’s strategic security interests [and] disrupts regional strategic balance,” Hua said, as cited by South Korea’s Hankyoreh paper.

The presence of the anti-missile system “won’t help achieving denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and regional peace and stability, and runs counter to all parties’ efforts to solve the issue through dialogue and consultation,”she said.

“We once again strongly urge the US and the ROK to stop and call off the deployment of THAAD,” the spokeswoman added.

Beijing remains unconvinced that THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) is needed to protect South Korea from a potential nuclear threat posed by the North, as the US claims. However, China believes it highly likely that the Americans will use the anti-missile system’s powerful radar to monitor the PRC’s military activities.