; Whereas U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) stated that North Korea’s accelerating program of nuclear weapons tests and ballistic missile launches constitute a threat to international peace and security, and that the THAAD battery is a strictly defensive capability and poses no threat to other countries in the region ; Whereas Hwang Kyo-Ahn, the Acting President of the Republic of Korea reiterated the need for early deployment of THAAD and further stated that the Government of the Republic of Korea would look aggressively for ways to effectively strengthen the United States extended deterrence in South Korea; Whereas a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geng Shuang, denounced the alliance’s decision to deploy the THAAD system and vowed that Beijing would take the necessary steps to safeguard our own security interests further warning that the two countries should not go further and further down the wrong road ; Whereas China has engaged in unreasonable and inappropriate retaliatory measures against the Republic of Korea, its businesses and its people in an attempt to halt the deployment of THAAD; Whereas no less than fifty-five Lotte supermarkets across China had been shut down and the Korean businesses located across China have been the target of various inspections by the Chinese authorities following the Lotte Group’s swap of a golf course in Seongju for the THAAD battery site; Whereas an American company partnering with Lotte has also been directly affected by these measures; Whereas travel industry sources in China said they were instructed by the Chinese authorities not to sell any tour packages to South Korea, both group and individual, effective March 15, 2017; Whereas Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated on March 17, 2017, that this is not the way for a regional power to help resolve what is a serious threat to everyone, and that we urge China to address the threat that makes it necessary, that being the escalating threat from North Korea