A decision by the United States and South Korea to deploy an advanced anti-missile defence system is aimed at defending against North Korea's missile threat and does not threaten China, a senior U.S. officer said in Beijing on Tuesday.
The United States has repeatedly tried to rebuff anger from China about Seoul's move to host a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) unit with the U.S. military.
Mark A. Milley, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, told his People's Liberation Army counterpart Li Zuocheng that THAAD was a defensive measure, the U.S. Army said in a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. THAAD "is a defensive measure to protect South Koreans and Americans from the North Korean ballistic missile threat and is not a threat in any way to China", the statement paraphrased Milley as saying.