South Korea’s plan to deploy a US-built missile shield furnishes it with a crucial level of defence against Kim Jong Un, a capricious dictator whose nuclear armed North Korean regime releases mocked-up videos of Seoul being hit by Pyongyang’s rocket attacks. But while the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence system (Thaad) is a legitimate defensive option for South Korea, it is also seen as a threat by China, with whom Seoul has been assiduously improving relations in recent years.

China’s position is not without justification. Thaad’s radar systems, though ostensibly pointed toward the threat from the North, are also capable of looking deep into Chinese territory, thus providing Seoul — and potentially its ally, Washington — with an important source of intelligence. In addition, Beijing is worried that Thaad could form part of a broad regional American missile shield that would constrain China’s strategic ambitions and room for manoeuvre.

While both South Korea and China have a case, it must be recognised that Seoul’s imperative for self-defence against an increasingly unhinged regime in Pyongyang is the greater. No country should be denied such legitimate defence needs.