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A test launch of a US THAAD missile interceptor

In China there is an increasing number of public voices arguing for the necessity of a global reevaluation of sanctions against North Korea, following the July 8 announcement from South Korea and U.S. of the decision to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korean territory. As a backdrop to this discussion there is the understanding that the strategic balance in Northeast Asia has been damaged by the THAAD decision.

Zhang Jingwei, a research fellow with the Charhar Institute, a private think tank that specializes in foreign policy, discussed the impact of THAAD deployment in South Korea in a piece for China.org.cn. Zhang pointed out that “Our existing solutions to the nuclear threat in North Korea may very well lose their effectiveness. There may be need for additional measures on the part of China and Russia in regards to potential responses to the nuclear threat of North Korea.”

Zhang also argued that even in the case of a nuclear provocation on the part of North Korea, if the five countries involved in the Six Party Talks with North Korea worked together, they could prevent the situation from spinning out of control. Of the decision to deploy THAAD-which disturbed this framework-Zhang added that “its destructive impact is more serious than even the nuclear threat from North Korea.”

It is also possible that in time, mutual cooperation against the threat of North Korea’s nuclear power will collapse because the THAAD decision led to loss of Chinese trust for South Korea and the U.S.

Wang Junsheng, research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote in a July 10 piece for Cankao Network (cankaochina.cn) that “THAAD deployment in South Korea destroys the mutual trust among China, the U.S. and South Korea in their efforts to solve the issue of North Korea’s nuclear program,” and judged that “The cooperation among China, the U.S. and South Korea has up until now been proven to be the most effective means, but this too will collapse with THAAD deployment.”

China has repeatedly brought up its responsibility as a permanent member of the Security Council in relation to UN-level sanctions against North Korea, with the stance that it would “fulfill its duties and promises to the international community.” It‘s the background to the emergence of perspectives that claim that China is not likely to suddenly change its stance. But with commodities for the “livelihood of the people” excluded from this, it is also possible that if China made up its mind, it could, with its indifference, ensure that the sanctions were effectively rendered impotent.

By Kim Oi-hyun, Beijing correspondent

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