Why China Has Been So Adamant About Stopping the Deployment of THAAD to South Korea

The Korea Herald has an editorial that explains why they believe China has been so adamant at preventing the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea:

China’s dogged opposition to the potential deployment of an additional U.S. missile defense asset to South Korea has raised questions over Beijing’s true intensions, given that the interception system does not pose any serious security threat to China.

Some assume the opposition to the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense system is intended to forestall any potential negative ramifications for China’s security. Others say the dissent appears designed to weaken the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

Despite the fact that THAAD is a wholly defensive system capable of targeting only North Korean missiles directed at South Korea, top Chinese officials ― most recently China’s Defense Minister Gen. Chang Wanquan ― have repeatedly voiced opposition to THAAD.

Military experts say that, contrary to lingering speculations, THAAD could not shoot down Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles headed for the U.S. mainland, or pose any missile threat to China, should it be based on the peninsula.  [Korea Herald]

Here is what the article says about the radar being used for intelligence collection:

China may take issue with the radar system with the argument that THAAD could be used to gather intelligence about Chinese military activities. But China is already under the scrutiny of a host of U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets including military satellites, and vice versa.

You can read much more at the link, but the editorial believes this is simply a ploy by the Chinese to create tension between the US and the ROK in order to weaken the alliance.