Off the Radar? China, THAAD and Northeast Asia's alliances

Amid China’s outcry at South Korea’s decision to deploy an advanced US missile-defense system, much attention has been paid to the perceived threat to China’s security of a system whose deployment is aimed at North Korea’s rapidly evolving missile capabilities. Chinese critics point especially to the ability of the system’s radar to penetrate deep into Chinese territory. Those and other arguments don’t wash, argues Marc R. DeVore. The real source of China’s outrage is that the nature of missile defense systems intrinsically help lay the foundations for closer US alliances in Northeast Asia.