A United States top-level diplomat has expressed hopes that Beijing will accept Washington's offer of a technical briefing about the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), which the US wants to deploy in South Korea.

Anthony Blinken, US Deputy Secretary of State, said US officials will explain to China that the missile system is necessary for the protection of US and its Southeast Asian allies against North Korean nuclear attacks.

Like Us on Facebook

Aside from this, Blinken said Washington will also discuss the technical aspect of the THAAD missile system to Beijing in order to allay its fears that the weapon may be used to target Beijing.

Chinese opposition

"We realise China may not believe us and also proposed to go through the technology and specifications with them ... and prepared to explain what the technology does and what it doesn't do and hopefully they will take us up on that proposal," Blinken told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.

China has repeatedly voiced its opposition to the planned US deployment of THAAD in South Korea saying it is a threat to Beijing's national security and will jeopardize its key security concerns in the Korean Peninsula.

Blinken's statements were issued  a day before the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington to attend the fourth and final nuclear summit with North Korea's nuclear programme high on the list of the agenda.

In response to Blinken's calls, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei has noted that the THAAD deployment is not "a simple technical issue, but it is a strategic one related to peace and stability in Northeast Asia."

US-South Korea talks

US and South Korea have begun talks on the possible deployment of THAAD following North Korea's latest nuclear bomb test on January 6 and the launch of a long-range rocket on February 7.

Although Beijing fully supported the UN-backed sanctions against Pyongyang for its belligerent actions in the Korean Peninsula, China has vehemently opposed the THAAD deployment saying it could be used to target Beijing.

Reports said Pyongyang has test-fired a short-range missile last week as its retaliation for the harsh sanctions imposed on the isolated state.

Trilateral talks

US President Barack Obama is set to hold talks with South Korean president Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this Thursday on Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

The trilateral talks will be held ahead of a meeting between President Obama and President Xi Jinping later that day.

Blinken said the THAAD deployment was a necessary measure until North Korea has tamed its aggression and become open to six-party talks again.

"None of these steps are directed against China, but we have also been very clear that as long as this persists ... we will have to take steps," he said.

TagsTHAAD, Anthony Blinken, Korean peninsula, Southeast Asian allies, missile system, North Korean missile tests, Chinese opposition, Washington, Beijing, Seoul, security concerns