Roving Sands THAAD Launcher

Harry J. Kazianis, National Interest: Why China Fears U.S. Missile Defenses

North Korea loves to cause trouble--except this time China might be the one on the recieving end.

 Well it seems we might want to hold off on all the predictions of Seoul and Beijing joining hands and riding off into the sunset as Asia’s new power couple--at least for now.

 China is quite upset at the prospect of South Korea acquiring America’s latest missile defense platform, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD for short. However, Xi Jinping might want to redirect his anger at the real problem and why President Park Geun-hye might be considering THAAD in the first place: North Korea.

 But before we get to the heart of the matter, it seems appropriate to understand what THAAD is, what it can do, and why its important.

WNU Editor: The South Koreans are definitely feeling the pressure from Chinese opposition to the deployment of US missile defense systems on the Korean peninsula .... Missile defense puts South Korea in East Asian squeeze (Robert Marquand, CSM). More here .

Update: The North Koreans are also voicing their opposition to missile defense .... N. Korea slams allies for possible THAAD deployment on peninsula (Yonhap News Agency)