RIMPAC 2016 and THAAD Deployment Tension

Source: CCTV America

Doug Paal suggests that the United States is a long way from upsetting the strategic balance in Northeast Asia by deploying THAAD, but that there is an incipient security dilemma. The democratic leaders of South Korea and the United States must take measures to protect their peoples from rogue sources of missile threat. North Korea has been exponentially developing its missile capability and the threat has been growing exponentially. The American and South Korean leaders have agreed to deploy THAAD to provide some means of protection. China and Russia see what the United States regards as defensive as purely offensive, and then take measures of their own, which these countries see as purely defensive but the United States sees as offensive. This is when leadedrs have to convene and prevent the constant escalation of security dilemma type of dynamics. China also made some tactical mistakes in this by openly requiring South Korea to not do certain things. For a democratic society, this means that South Korea has to do these things to show that it is not dictated by China. 

One Chinese concern is that China is worried about the radars that will look at China and dissect the difference between real Chinese missile warheads and decoys, and that will give the U.S. an advantage in a nuclear conflict. Another Chinese concern is U.S. integration of Korea, Japan, and Taiwan into an advanced missile detection system in Northeast Asia. This will create a serious political and military threat for China in the longer run. 

This broadcast was originally published by CCTV America.