The U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system
(THAAD) deployed to South Korea earlier this month and while the missile-muting
shield is meant to keep North Korean nuclear ambitions in check it is also
driving the Chinese to distraction.
Beijing sees THAAD as an escalation against their own missile forces and
have argued and fought against the system’s deployment since the idea was
broached as North Korea began slinging its rockets farther.
Consequently, the campaign against South Korea's Lotte Group and other South Korean companies is an example of
how quickly political tides can shift in China. As of March 8, some 40 Lotte
stores had been closed, often on spurious grounds such as alleged fire-code
violations.
Lotte's troubles
expanded to other South Korean firms on Thursday as China's tourism ministry
instructed tour operators in Beijing to stop selling trips to South Korea from
March 15. The order has since spread to other regions across the mainland, an
official at Korea Tourism Organization said on Monday.
2 comments:
A classic example of the security dilemma. It is completely understandable why South Korea would want to revamp its missile defense system; however, one cannot blame China as it becomes surrounded from the South and East, with Japan's defensive military might and push to amend its constitution for offensive power. Hopefully, the downward spiral ends here. Heightened tensions in Asia is not good for anybody.
One reason for China lashes out THAAD is that South Korea said it's used to protect themselves from the attack of North Korea, however, THAAD can actually control more than two-thirds of Chinese mainland including Beijing and other economics centers. The tension between China and Korea has lead to a large amount of economic loss. Chinese tourists used to be important consumers of South Korean retailers, however, all the tour groups were canceled after March 15th. On the other hand, this would also affect Chinese export to South Korean, too. Both sides are hurt by the tensive situation.
Post a Comment