by Xinhua writer Lu Rui
BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met on Thursday with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the upcoming 12th summit of G20 in Hamburg, Germany, the first in-person meeting between them since Moon took office in May.
Just as expected, the issue of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, regarded as the biggest problem in Beijing-Seoul ties, tops the agenda of the meeting.
The installation of THAAD system by Seoul and Washington under the excuse of countering Pyongyang's growing military threats gravely harms the strategic security interests of regional countries including Russia and China.
It is clear to all that the system has failed to curb the nuclear ambitions of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Instead it encourages mistrust and suspicion, increases Pyongyang's sense of insecurity while compromising world efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
On Tuesday, the DPRK test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, which it claims to be capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead, further dimming the prospects for breaking the impasse.
China and Russia have urged the DPRK to strictly abide by the UN Security Council resolutions. They also sent a warning that "any outsider should not increase its military deployment and presence in Northeast Asia under the excuse of opposing Pyongyang's nuclear and missile plans."
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