US airdropped supplies near Senkakus in China-conscious drill

February exercise near Taiwan Strait signals closer defense ties with Japan

20210422 Senkakus

China, which claims the Senkaku Islands, has made repeated maritime incursions in the area. © Kyodo

JUNNOSUKE KOBARA, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- U.S. forces staged a rare military exercise near the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands, going a step beyond its usual activity by airdropping supplies into waters near the islets in an apparent warning to China over recent incursions.

The U.S. military informed Japan's Self-Defense Forces shortly beforehand about plans for an exercise there involving a personnel drop, according to a senior Japanese official, though no troops were ultimately transported onto the islands.

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