U.S., China achieve 'certain amount of clarity' on THAAD during Rice's visit: senior official

Published : Jul 28, 2016 - 08:02 Updated : Jul 28, 2016 - 14:19

U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice clearly explained to Chinese officials that the THAAD missile defense system the U.S. plans to deploy in South Korea won't hurt China's security interests, and both sides achieved "a certain amount of clarity on that," a senior official said.

The official, speaking during a background briefing in Beijing, said that Chinese officials did raise their concerns about the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system during Rice's trip to Beijing that included meetings with President Xi Jinping, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Fan Changlong.

"Ambassador Rice was able to explain, I think quite clearly and persuasively, that THAAD was an alliance decision. It has been taken by the United States and the Republic of Korea, our treaty ally. It is a step that is directly in response to the threat posed by North Korea in its nuclear and missile programs," the official said.

(Yonhap)

"And this defensive weapon system is neither designed nor capable of threatening China's security interests. And I think that Ambassador Rice was able to explain that issue clearly to her Chinese counterparts, and I think both sides were able to achieve a certain amount of clarity on that," the official said.

The official also said that THAAD is a "challenging issue" as with other areas of difference between Washington and Beijing and the U.S. will continue to address it "forthrightly in the weeks and months ahead."

China has strongly opposed THAAD's deployment in South Korea, saying the system, especially the powerful "X-band" radar, could be used against it, despite repeated assurances from the U.S. and the South that the battery is purely defensive and would be used only to cope with North Korean threats.

The issue has also raised concern that China might be refusing to render full-scale cooperation for international efforts to increase pressure on Pyongyang, including implementing the latest U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution, in protest of the THAAD deployment decision.

But the senior U.S. official said that Rice and Chinese officials "agreed on our shared commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" and talked about ways to work together to realize the goal.

"We talked about the challenges involved there, and again, ways that we can work together through, for example, continuing to ensure that UN Security Council Resolution 2270 is implemented fully, and other possible efforts that we could take together, again, to further our objective of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the official said. (Yonhap)