Japan has decided not to use military planes to deliver relief goods to quake-hit China, government officials said Friday, after Beijing voiced uneasiness over the mission.
The Japanese government later announced more aid of up to 500 million yen (US$4.76 million; 3.06 million) in earthquake relief, in addition to the same amount that Tokyo promised earlier this month.
Beijing had been in talks with Tokyo about using Japanese military planes to deliver aid, which could have become the first significant military dispatch between the two nations since World War II.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Tokyo would not insist on using the military.
"There was caution voiced in China, and following talks between China and Japan we have decided not to send Self-Defense Force planes," he told reporters. "This is not an issue that we should risk causing friction."
Japan invaded China and conquered large parts of it in the 1930s before being defeated by the Allies in 1945, and many Chinese still strongly resent Japan for its military aggression.
Japan's Asahi newspaper said the Chinese government was concerned about domestic public opinion after many Chinese posted comments opposing the mission on Web sites.
Instead of sending military planes, Japan is arranging private charter planes to deliver relief goods to China early next week, Machimura said later Friday.
He added that the flights will deliver 1,200 tents as part of the additional emergency aid.
Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba later said that the latest development showed that Japan must "continue our efforts to gain a firm trust from our neighbors."
Since World War II, Japan has sent only a small group of defense experts to China to dispose of chemical weapons abandoned by Japanese troops.
Though postwar relations between China and Japan have been rocky, the countries have grown closer in the past 18 months.
Chinese President Hu Jintao made a smooth five-day visit to Japan at the beginning of May, the first by a Chinese president in 10 years. Japan was also the first foreign nation that China turned to for help after the earthquake, which has killed nearly 70,000 people and left millions homeless.
Tokyo sent a 60-member civilian emergency rescue team days after the quake struck, followed by a medical team last week.
