“The deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea damages the regional strategic balance and stability. The Chinese side is resolutely opposed to this. China’s military will continue to carry out live-fire military exercises and test new military equipment in order to firmly safeguard…
Two days after the US military began to move the controversial THAAD anti-missile system into its deployment site in a South Korean golf course (over the protests of hundreds of locals who were promptly quieted when the police showed up) , despite vocal protests from China which is “resolutely opposed” to the THAAD deployment and believes such a move would destabilize the regional balance of power, China said on Thursday that it would stage live fire drills and test new weapons to protect its national security, its Defense Ministry said.
“The deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea damages the regional strategic balance and stability. The Chinese side is resolutely opposed to this” Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told reporters on Thursday when asked about the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system.
He also said that “China’s military will continue to carry out live-fire military exercises and test new military equipment in order to firmly safeguard national security and regional peace and stability, ” he said, as quoted by Reuters .
Beijing has been an outspoken opponent of THAAD over fears it will undermine its own deterrence capabilities. In March, and editorial in the state-run Global Times newspaper said Washington should “pay the price” for the deployment of the system, which it said was “on China’s front door.
