The Chinese leadership and the overwhelming majority of expert Chinese observers and commentators are strongly opposed to the U.S.-ROK decision to deploy the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea. While most Chinese acknowledge that THAAD may provide some limited defense for South Korea against North Korean ballistic missiles, they believe that it is primarily intended to weaken China’s strategic deterrent while contributing to a global anti-missile system threatening to both Beijing and Moscow. The THAAAD decision worsens an existing strong sense of Chinese resentment against alleged efforts by the U.S. to peer deep into China from nearby areas, extracting sensitive military information in order to degrade China’s security. More importantly, for most Chinese, the THAAD deployment decision also represents a betrayal by South Korea and a related strengthening of Washington’s overall effort to counter or contain China.
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Chinese Views on South Korea’s Deployment of THAAD
