Since his days on the campaign trail, Trump has been a huge critic of China. However, he will need to come to terms with the fact that criticizing and alienating China, especially over the threat that North Korea poses, is not wise. North Korea will serve as a test of not just Trump’s ability to make a deal but also his ability to employ diplomacy with a rival to address a common and growing threat.

Participants in the Six Party Talks can take four paths to progress: Make denuclearization of the Peninsula their collective top priority; make a military strike an option as talks resume; initiate peace treaty talks concurrently; and take confidence-building steps to make negotiations more inviting.

Chaos on the Korean Peninsula would have a direct and far-reaching impact on the security environment of China. China push for the principle of “no war, no chaos and no nuclear weapons” on the Peninsula will become even stronger amid uncertainties posed by the election of Donald Trump and the planned tests by the DPRK.

The confrontation regarding plans for the THAAD system might lead to unbearable consequences if the situation gets worse. The only reasonable course for Washington and Seoul is to abandon the deployment.

In early July, South Korea decided to allow the United States to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. At the heart of this issue is the difference in how China and the United States view the role of South Korea and decisions related to the security and stability of the peninsula.

No matter how the wrangling over THAAD evolves, it will ignite strategic gaming as well as new and high military technology competition among major powers. Pentagon planners may be rejoicing over the ROK decision to embrace the American project, but the US will have no control over the reaction to the deployment.

Seoul should fully understand the consequences of THAAD in the ROK, reverse the deployment decision and cooperate with countries concerned in an effort to force the DPRK to abandon its nuclear project and mitigate the tense situation in the Korean Peninsula. THAAD will only produce two winners: the U.S. and the DPRK.

The U.S. Defense Department recently announced that the U.S. Forces Korea Command will station a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in the Republic of Korea (ROK) as a defensive measure against North Korea. But Russian and Chinese representatives have expressed concern about how THAAD could affect strategic stability, alliance relations, and global influence.

The missile-defense deployment will worsen the bifurcation in East Asia, where regional arrangements for economic growth are shaped with China at its core while regional security architecture is set up with the US-centered military alliances as its foundation. Should this contradictory situation evolve, neither regional economic growth nor security could be sustained.

China must keep in mind its significant interests in multiple aspects of the North Korea issue, as it tries its best to balance such interests under difficult circumstances and create conditions for improving China-DPRK ties while preserving its mutual security and stability goals with Washington and Seoul.