In that case, China would likely face an increasing number of challenges with Japan being empowered to impose stricter containment on it. More importantly, Seoul, which benefits a lot from the trade and investment exchanges with Beijing, as well as from their shared history and cultures, will set an abominable precedent for bilateral relations in the region, if it eventually helps the US to contain China.

As for its national security concerns, Seoul is only 40 kilometers away from the inter-Korean land border, and thus has little reason to resort to the advanced THAAD system, as Pyongyang is unlikely to fire long-range missiles should it seek to attack the south. On the contrary, accommodating the US defense system will only deal a heavy blow to the China-ROK ties and the regional stability and peace.

In other words, deploying the anti-missile system on the peninsula would mainly serve the interests of the US, which wants to generate more deterrent effects on both China and Russia, drive a wedge between Beijing and Seoul, and expedite its trilateral military coordination with Japan and the ROK.

Therefore, Beijing should seek to persuade the ROK not to allow the deployment of the missile system on its soil, enhance its partnership with Seoul, and engage in constructive dialogue with Washington.

The author is an associate researcher at the National Institute of International Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.