The United States and South Korean militaries have postponed an aircraft carrier drill in the Yellow Sea ahead of next month's G20 summit in Seoul following strong criticism from China.
The United States and South Korean militaries have postponed an aircraft carrier drill in the Yellow Sea ahead of next month's G20 summit in Seoul following strong criticism from China, local media reported on Monday.
Beijing had said the Pentagon's plans to send the nuclear-powered carrier USS George Washington to the joint exercise -- set to take place between China and the Korean peninsula -- threatened long-term damage to Sino-US relations.
South Korean government and military sources told local media that the decision to cancel the drill, which was scheduled to take place late this month, was made to avoid creating problems with China and North Korea ahead of the G20 summit on November 11-12.
The allies made the decision "in a bid not to unnecessarily antagonise neighbouring countries" before the summit, Yonhap news agency quoted a government source as saying.
The United States and South Korea have said their joint exercises are aimed at warning North Korea, which they blame for the March torpedoing of a South Korean navy ship in the Yellow Sea.
Local media said there would be no drills involving US aircraft carriers this year.
The US military said a precise date had never been set for the joint exercise off the west coast, and it was continuing discussions about the timing of the aircraft carrier drill.
Rear Admiral Yang Yi, a senior researcher at the National Defence University in Beijing, told Reuters in August that the exercise would have been provocatively close to China's political and economic heartland.
Friction between Beijing and Washington over Chinese maritime claims and US naval activities has added to irritants between the two countries, which have also sparred this year over exchange rate policy, Taiwan, Tibet and Internet policy.
The US has recently criticised Chinese claims to swathes of the South China Sea, where Taiwan and several Southeast Asian states also assert sovereignty. China has said the waters and atolls down there are among its "core" national interests.
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