China said Friday it will not participate in a maritime anti-terrorism exercise with Japan, the United States and three other countries this weekend, despite being slated for a central role.
"Due to other tasks at this time by the concerned departments, China will not participate in this activity," a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP, refusing to comment further. His comments come just a day ahead of the scheduled joint exercises that also involve Russia, South Korea and Canada.
A Japanese coast guard statement released on Tuesday said the exercises, due to last until Thursday, were meant to simulate a ship carrying weapons of mass destruction trying to enter China's eastern port of Shanghai.
But a revised statement released late Friday took out the reference to weapons of mass destruction and instead said the mock ship would be "suspected of being engaged in illegal activities such as smuggling goods and people."
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