World War 3: China and Russia prepare to SHOOT down US missiles in North Korea stand-off
CHINA and Russia are preparing to shoot down US missiles as tensions mount over North Korea.
PUBLISHED: 08:28, Sun, Nov 19, 2017 | UPDATED: 10:35, Sun, Nov 19, 2017
The two states will hold anti-missile drills in Beijing next month as fears continue that Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions could spark World War 3 .
China and Russia have both opposed to the basing of the cutting-edge US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in South Korea,
Seoul and Washington insist the system is required to defend against the threat of North Korean missiles.
But China, along with Russia, has repeatedly expressed opposition to the deployment, saying it will do nothing to help ease tension with Kim Jong-un’s sabre-rattling regime.
China also fears THAAD’s powerful radar system can look deep into is territory, undermining its security.
China’s Defence Ministry said in a statement that drills would take place from December 11 to December 16.
The aim of the exercise was to jointly practice defence against missiles and how to handle
“sudden and provocative attacks on the two countries’ territories by ballistic missiles and cruise missiles”, the ministry said.
Without elaborating further, it said: “The drill is not aimed at any third party.”
While China and South Korea agreed last month to move beyond their year-long stand-off over THAAD, a dispute that has been devastating to South Korean businesses that rely on Chinese consumers, China has stuck to its opposition to the system.
China and Russia have close military and diplomatic ties, and they have repeatedly called for a peaceful, negotiated solution to the North Korea nuclear and missile crisis.
Yesterday, North Korea ruled out negotiations with Washington as long as joint US-South Korea military exercises continue.
Han Tae Song, North Korea's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, brushed off the new sanctions which the Trump administration has said it is preparing.
He warned: “As long as there is continuous hostile policy against my country by the US and as long as there are continued war games at our doorstep, then there will not be negotiations."
"There are continued military exercises using nuclear assets as well as aircraft carriers, and strategic bombers and raising such kinds of military exercises against my country.
“The DPRK, my country, will continue to build-up its self-defence capability, the pivot of which is nuclear forces and capability for a triumphant strike as long as US and hostile forces keep up nuclear threat and blackmail.
"Our country plans ultimate completion of the nuclear force,”
South Korea and the US agreed on Friday to keep working for a peaceful end to the North Korean nuclear crisis.
But a US envoy said it was difficult to gauge the reclusive North's intentions as there has been "no signal"
