THE Chinese authorities are so angry with South Korea that they have cheered on boycotts of South Korean goods and culture, persecuted South Korean firms operating in China and discouraged Chinese tourists from visiting South Korea. China is South Korea’s biggest market for exports (it spent $137bn on South Korean goods in 2015, nearly twice as much as the next biggest taker, America), so the prospect of a prolonged dispute is alarming. It is also puzzling, given that the source of the row—the deployment of an American anti-missile system called THAAD (pictured)—does not seem nearly as objectionable as China suggests.
Earlier this month America began installing a THAAD system in South Korea. As if to confirm the rationale for deployment, the previous day North Korea had fired four missiles into the Sea of Japan, in what appeared to be a simulated attack on an American base. Last year North Korea conducted more than 20 ballistic-missile tests in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. If anything, the tempo of missile launches has increased this year. This week saw the testing of a powerful new rocket engine and an abortive missile launch. Yet China’s foreign ministry...Continue reading
from Asia http://ift.tt/2nMN6Ka
EmoticonEmoticon