BEIJING (AP) – China’s simmering feud with South Korea over the deployment of an American missile defense system is the latest in a string of foreign policy challenges piling up on President Xi Jinping’s desk as he prepares to host the annual summit of the G20 nations next month. Below is a look at some of the more significant issues, most of them related in one way or another to China’s rivalry with the United States.
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SOUTH KOREA
Chinese anger at South Korea over its decision to deploy and U.S. anti-missile defense system appears to be threatening everything from appearances by the stars of K-Pop to future cooperation on North Korea at the United Nations. South Korea’s entertainment sector has been on edge since Seoul’s decision last month to proceed with the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system, and reports are trickling in of event cancellations and possible bans on the showing of South Korean TV series. A chill has already descended over the political relationship, with daily attacks in Chinese state media on South Korea and the U.S. over THAAD, even hinting that Beijing might withhold future cooperation with the U.S. against North Korea at the United Nations Security Council.
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