Despite China’s best efforts as an intermediary, Pyongyang has obviously stood on the wrong side of history, against the will of the rest of the world by refusing peaceful engagement. But the six-party talks platform has not been built easily, and it remains the key to meaningful progress.

Physically, THAAD serves as an Iron Curtain to intercept incoming missiles from North Korea. Separate national security interests have supplanted Cold War ideology, but THAAD could influence competing alliances and block cooperation among the countries involved in the “Six Party Talks.”

A new crisis is brewing on the Korean Peninsula. In mid-February, North Korea conducted an intermediate-range ballistic missile test. On March 1, the United States and South Korea began a joint military exercise that is unprecedented in scale and intensity.

Ironically, in launching its economic campaign to protest South Korean deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system, Beijing is effectively doing Washington’s bidding. U.S. policymakers long have worried about the PRC’s economic draw on the South. As China voluntarily curbs those ties, American officials couldn’t be happier.

The decision to deploy a Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the Republic of Korea (ROK) by the ROK and the United States caused strong diplomatic reactions from China. Further negative interactions between the ROK and China may develop if the two countries cannot find a solution.

The recent Lotte crisis is a recurring incident in East Asia’s power dynamic: one country wields economic weapons to score geopolitical goals against another. In a region where China and U.S. lack strategic trust and security cooperation, everyone stands to lose when economics and geopolitics get tangled. Keeping the two in separate dimensions and preventing risks from one realm spilling over into the other are imperative.

Chaos on the Korean Peninsula would have a direct and far-reaching impact on the security environment of China. China push for the principle of “no war, no chaos and no nuclear weapons” on the Peninsula will become even stronger amid uncertainties posed by the election of Donald Trump and the planned tests by the DPRK.

The Yellow Sea is an important fisheries resource for China and the two Koreas. However, several violent incidents this season have increased tensions between China and South Korea. With the media and public placing greater scrutiny of the Chinese trawlers, the Korean government has resolved to show stronger resolve against illegal fishing in their waters. For their part, Chinese civilian fishing vessels have become increasingly assertive in response to South Korea’s newfound resolve.