The missile shield the U.S. intends to deploy in South Korea could be the first casualty in a U.S.-China conflict, a former Chinese diplomat revealed.
The U.S. is preparing to install a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile shield in Seongju, South Korea next year to protect the country from North Korean missile threats. In addition to infuriating North Korea, the planned deployment of THAAD has outraged China.
Concerned about its national security interests, China is displeased with the capabilities of the THAAD system’s X-band radar.
“If the U.S. and China fought in war, the first round of attack should include the X-band radar,” Yang Xiyu, a former Chinese foreign ministry official tasked with handling affairs on the Korean Peninsula and a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Yonhap News Agency on the sidelines of a recent seminar.
“I am not meaning we will do something but we will prepare for something,” he explained, clarifying that such moves would be standard military preparation and that the U.S. and China should not go to war.
Yang warned that the relationship between China and South Korea will change in response to THAAD. “We had a very good relationship. But if the THAAD deployment will be brought about, the degree will change,” Yang commented. “We need to re-think the China-South Korea partnership.”
China is deeply concerned that the X-band radar will allow the U.S. military to peer into Chinese territory, collect radar data on Chinese missiles, warheads and strategic missiles, and effectively cripple the country’s nuclear deterrent.
During the seminar, Yang said that China would take necessary measures to ensure its national security and defense, repeating the rhetoric of the Chinese government.
“The Chinese side will follow closely the deployment and take necessary measures to safeguard China’s strategic security and regional strategic balance. What needs to be emphasized is that we Chinese mean what we say,” Ministry of Defense spokesman Senior Col. Yang Yujun said in late September.
“China firmly opposes THAAD and we will take necessary measures to maintain the strategic balance,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang further noted.
“We will pay close attention to the relevant actions of the US and ROK and will take necessary measures to maintain national strategic security as well as regional equilibrium,” Yang Yujun said in late July.
Yang Xiyu’s comments indicate that China’s “necessary measures” could involve targeting the THAAD system’s radar and other key components.
The U.S. has stated that it will deploy THAAD “as soon as possible.”
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