Tuesday, October 31, 2017

China And South Korea Have Reset Their Relationship

Reuters: China, South Korea agree to mend ties after THAAD standoff

SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) - Seoul and Beijing on Tuesday agreed to move beyond a year-long stand-off over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea, a dispute that has been devastating to South Korean businesses that rely on Chinese consumers.

The unexpected detente comes just days before U.S. President Donald Trump begins a trip to Asia, where the North Korean nuclear crisis will take center stage, and helped propel South Korean stocks to a record high.

The installation of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system had angered China, with South Korea’s tourism, cosmetics and entertainment industries bearing the brunt of a Chinese backlash, although Beijing has never specifically linked that to the THAAD deployment.

Beijing worries the THAAD system’s powerful radar can penetrate into Chinese territory.

Read more ....

Update: South Korea and China End Dispute Over Missile Defense System -- New York Times

WNU Editor: I am not surprised that this rapprochement is occurring only after the Chinese Party Congress ended last week. South Korea is not the problem .... the problem is North Korea .... but because of internal politics Chinese President Xi felt constrained. That constraint is now gone. Expect more changes in Chinese foreign policy in the coming weeks.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

The Chinese or South Koreans must not have used one of those misspelled reset buttons.