The U.S. will "pay the price" for its decision to put an advanced missile defense system in South Korea, China's most influential daily newspaper said on Saturday.
In a commentary, the People's Daily, the official media outlet of the Chinese Communist Party, said, "If the United States and South Korea harm the strategic security interests of countries in the region including China, then they are destined to pay the price for this and receive a proper counter-attack."
The commentary was published under the name Zhong Sheng, meaning "voice of China," a non de plume that is often used to give the party's views on foreign policy.
South Korea wouldn't spend the money on our THAAD missile defense system if the cost in blood and treasure of being hit by even one North Korean nuke wouldn't be catastrophic.
And nations should take note of China's position that Peking wants countries to be vulnerable to nuclear destruction from their highly convenient North Korean little friend.
China could do a lot more to slow down or stop North Korea's nuclear program. But they don't because a nuclear-armed North Korea is apparently too darned convenient for China.
Of course, it is all fun and games now to watch South Korea, Japan, and America squirm. But when countries within range of North Korea go beyond missile defenses to building their own nuclear weapons to have a deterrent that doesn't rely on America, China won't find it quite so fun.
UPDATE: Is it possible to do more than annoy China by sanctioning portions of their large economy whose trade with America is huge?
The United States is probing a number of Chinese firms suspected of flouting sanctions against North Korea, in a new push to force Beijing to rein in its unruly ally.
State Department official Daniel Fried told a Senate hearing on Monday that several Chinese entities were under investigation, warning that doing business with North Korean firms was increasingly “not worth it.”
Signaling U.S. impatience with Chinese enforcement of UN sanctions, the remarks came two days after Washington announced unprecedented criminal charges against an industrial wholesaler located on the China-North Korea border.
I suspect the Chinese will sacrifice a wholesaler to keep their little nuclear friend going.
