US and Japan scrap naval drill in bid to ease islands tension with China

Japan and the United States have called off a joint naval exercise planned for next month in a bid to avoid irritating China and escalating their ongoing territorial dispute in the East China Sea, Japanese media reported.

Citing a Japanese government source, the Tokyo-based Jiji Press said the decision to skip the drill on November 5-16 "reflects the decision of [the] prime minister's office". The two navies had intended to rehearse the recapture of a remote island not unlike one of the disputed Diaoyu Islands.

Some Japanese feared the exercise on Okinawa prefecture's Irisunajima Island would further anger Beijing, especially because it would have conflicted with the Communist Party's once-in-a-decade leadership reshuffle.

Chinese experts on Sino-Japanese affairs said cancelling the drill would help ratchet down tensions between Beijing and Tokyo, which have been running high ever since Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced the purchase of three of the islands from their private Japanese owner last month.

"The cancellation is a smart decision made by Tokyo, as their scheduled drill time will overlap with next month's 18th Communist Party congress in Beijing," said Professor Niu Zhongjun , an international relations specialist at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.

"During such a sensitive period, any provocative moves [from] Japan will further trigger outrage in China, pushing Beijing to take tough reactions to assuage public anger."