The Democratic People's Republic of Korea reportedly launched a submarine-based ballistic missile on Saturday. The launch came a day after Seoul and Washington jointly announced their decision to deploy the US-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in the Republic of Korea to "better tackle the DPRK's nuclear and missile threats".

On Friday, immediately after the US-ROK announcement, China and Russia expressed strong opposition to the move. China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website that the deployment will "do nothing to help with denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and (instead) will harm regional peace and stability".

The deployment of THAAD on ROK soil will pose a grave threat to China's core security interests and seriously affect the international situation. To begin with, it is likely to further undermine the strategic trust between China and the US. As a rising global power, China has adopted the best possible approach to deepen its cooperation with the US. That explains why President Xi Jinping has more than once emphasized the importance of establishing "a new type of major-power relationship" between the two countries.