China’s Top Legislator Says Two Countries Must “Closely Communicate” About THAAD During Visit to South Korea

Here is the latest on the THAAD issue between China and South Korea:

China’s top legislator made an unprecedented visit to Seoul last week, where they confirmed their differences on South Korea’s deployment of the US-made missile defense system that Beijing opposes.

Li Zhanshu, Beijing’s third-highest-ranking official and chief of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, made an unprecedented two-day trip to Seoul from Thursday, as South Korea has embarked on work to normalize operations of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system.

Paying a courtesy visit to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and also meeting with top officials including his Korean counterpart Kim Jin-pyo, the National Assembly speaker, Li discussed a range of topics, including the operation of THAAD.

When Li visited on Friday, Yoon told Li that South Korea and China must “closely communicate” so that THAAD does not become a “hurdle” to bilateral relations.

Li also agreed on the need for improvement in communication to address the “sensitive” issue, implicitly referring to the THAAD issue. (…….)

Over Li’s visit to Seoul and his meeting with Yoon, China’s state-operated English news outlet Global Times cited analysts to report that Seoul appears to have “received and better understood Beijing’s position on some sensitive issues, and that following the US is not completely in South Korea’s national interests.”

In the meeting with Li, Yoon also delivered his invitation for Chinese President Xi Jinping to Seoul, saying that Xi’s visit would be an “important sign” that opens the door to the next 30 years of their bilateral relationship.

South Korea and China celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations this year.

With the ongoing THAAD issue, however, it is highly unlikely for Xi to visit Korea anytime soon, unless there is a clear benefit for China to gain, Kang Jun-young, a Chinese studies professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, told The Korea Herald.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but the Chinese hypocrisy over THAAD continues to be so obvious. They continue to be against the THAAD system in the ROK because they claim it is against Chinese security interests while completely ignoring ROK security interests.  If it wasn’t for the Chinese backing of their client state North Korea that has allowed them to pursue missiles and nuclear weapons to threaten the ROK, the deployment of THAAD to South Korea would not be necessary in the first place.