China, Russia united in opposition to THAAD
Print Edition
CHINA and Russia yesterday blasted the United States for its decision to deploy a missile defense system in South Korea.
Speaking at the Xiangshan regional defense forum in Beijing, top military officials said the move by Seoul and Washington represented a threat to regional stability and was a step toward a new global arms race.
The US and South Korea agreed to install the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) this summer following repeated nuclear and missile tests by North Korea.
Washington was using North Korea’s actions as a pretext to gain military superiority over China, Major General Cai Jun, of the Central Military Commission’s joint staff department, said at a briefing on the sidelines of the forum.
Deploying the system in South Korea, he said, was “not conducive to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula,” adding that “it has increased the risk of military conflict in the region.”
From a global perspective, Cai said, US insistence on developing its missile defense program could trigger “an arms race at a high level, even to outer space.”
Its unilateral and “unconstructive” design of missile defense systems will cause the global security environment to deteriorate, damage global strategic balance and regional security and stability and hinder the process of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, he said.
China has insisted on political and diplomatic efforts from concerned parties to achieve common security, stability and cooperation, he added.
Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s deputy defense minister, also criticized the agreement. He said the decision has aggravated regional tension and adds problems to solving the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Lieutenant General Viktor Poznikhir of the Russian military’s General Staff accused the US of developing the advanced shield as part of planning for a possible first nuclear strike.
“The missile defense system considerably shifts the balance of offensive weapons, allowing the planning of a more efficient pre-emptive strike,” he said at the security forum.
“Russian military experts believe that the US hopes to gain the capability to strike any region of the world, including Russia and China, with nuclear-tipped missiles with impunity,” he said.
He said that Washington’s calculus would be to launch a first disarming strike and then rely on the missile shield to shoot down the remaining enemy missiles launched at the US in a retaliatory strike.
Chang Wanquan, China’s defense minister, opened the forum with thinly veiled criticism of recent US involvement in Asian trouble spots.
“Some countries seek absolute military superiority, ceaselessly strengthen their military alliances, and seek their own absolute security at the cost of other countries’ security,” Chang said.
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