Could US defense ambition break Asia's strategic equilibrium?

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By Li Hongmei, Specially for Sina English
The Pentagon has revealed plans to deploy elements of its global antiballistic missile defense system in Asia and Middle East, a project akin to an emerging bulwark in Europe, and one of spats stumbling America-Russia ties.
Russia has been worried about Washington’s plan to build a missile defense system at its doorsteps “to protect Europe from missiles launched from Iran”.
By the same token, China would be also, if not even more, opposed to a new antimissile defense in its backyard. Further, the U.S defense efforts may also complicate ties with China, even if US has explained on many an occasion that it is seeking the shields against ballistic missiles in Asia meant for North Korea. But many observers within China believe the stuff, once coming into being, would be designed to target China.
Unfortunately, Asia lacks a NATO-type alliance for Washington to provide diplomatic, political and military coordination for such a project.
Thus, the US push for new regional bulwarks includes two sets of trilateral dialogues - one with Japan and Australia and the other with Japan and South Korea. Such shields could help counter perceived threats to their neighbors from Iran and North Korea and help defend the United States from any future long-range missiles that the two countries, the U.S. and its allies believe, might develop.
Noticeably, the deployment of American antimissile system in Europe has been a thorn in Moscow’s side ever since the Bush era. Russia fears that the system, once fully operational, would undermine its nuclear deterrence. It said it would deploy its short-range missile forces to destroy elements of the system and would upgrade its intercontinental ballistic missiles in response to the US moves.
In the same vein, Asian deployment would have Beijing’s frown. Chinese Foreign Ministry already voiced concerns over the U.S. plan, and the spokesman said China hopes the U.S. could mull over the issue eyeing the global and regional strategic equilibrium and world peace.
Riki Ellison, a prominent US missile-defense advocate noted for his close ties to senior military officials involved in the effort, was cited as saying recently that Beijing "would take much more offense to an Asian phased adaptive approach than Russia is doing with the European one.” He called the regional shields a good idea in theory but problematic in reality.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, in a recent interview, Moscow plans to host a security conference in May, where it hopes to make a case against American antimissile system, proving that its stated goal to contain Iran and North Korea is not in line with its actual future capabilities.
Washington’s blueprint for missile defense, in a sense, is part of its global military network, but if built upon the confrontationist mentality and at the expense of global and regional strategic equilibrium, it is doomed to a defeat, considering that In reality, China and the U.S. share fundamental strategic goals in global stability and economic growth, as well as in reduction of nontraditional security threats.