Ever-worsening

Japan confirms Chinese, S. Korean withdrawals from multinational naval exercises

China and South Korea have canceled participation in a multinational naval security exercise, the Japan Coast Guard said Sunday. The drills began Saturday with Japan and three other participants—the United States, Canada and Russia—a Coast Guard official said on condition of anonymity citing protocol.

Although Japanese officials refused to give specific reason for the cancellation, South Korea said it was because of concerns that part of the exercises may upset North Korea, whose nuclear ambitions are major regional concerns. One of the exercise scenarios is a mock chase of a suspicious ship from Shanghai to Vladivostok, Russia, over the East China Sea and Sea of Japan near North Korea.

The maneuvers aim to improve ship-chasing skills, the relay of information among participatory nations, as well as onsite inspections of suspected crime-linked vessels, he said.

Initially, the scenario of the first drill called the suspicious ship as that of “a country suspected of exporting weapons of mass destruction.” Japan later revised the ship’s description as “suspected of smuggling goods and people.” South Korea said it asked Japan to change the ship’s description. China had no immediate comment on the drill.

The official also denied that Japan’s ever-worsening relations with China and South Korea played a role in the cancellation. To which I can only say, hard to believe.