Following the Chinese government's insistent appeals to the US and South Korea to halt the deployment of an advanced aerial defence system in the Asian country, the party mouthpiece has come down heavily on the anti-communist alliance.
The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) on the Korean Peninsula will inevitably prompt a "counter attack", the People's Daily said in a commentary on Saturday.
The US and South Korea will "pay the price" for the deployment of the Thaad, which China believes will compromise its security, the daily warned.
"Like any other country, China can neither be vague nor indifferent on security matters that affect its core interests," the newspaper's foreign policy commentary read.
"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," it added.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang asked Washington and Seoul to halt the deployment of the missile defence shield.
The aerial defence system, which the US has offered to South Korea as a counter balance against the nuclear and missile experiments carried out by reclusive North Korea, will do no good for regional stability, the Chinese official said.
"We keep repeating our position that the deployment of the THAAD missile system by the United States and the ROK will not address the concerns of relevant parties, contribute to denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, or aid the peace and stability of the Peninsula," Geng said.
China's security concerns
Talks between the US and South Korea over the deployment of Thaad were kick-started in February this year following Pyongyang's aggressive military posturing.
The sophisticated system, built by Lockheed Martin Corp along with the associated AN/TPY-2 tracking radar built by Raytheon, can fire anti-ballistic missiles targeting objects inside or outside the Earth's atmosphere.
China believes Thaad's powerful radar system would compromise its security. However, the US South Korea have insist that Thaad does not target any country other than North Korea.
