People's Daily Online, Beijing, April 12 (Chen Yu) According to the website of the Ministry of National Defense, in the afternoon of April 12, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, Director of the Information Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense and spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense, released news on recent military related issues.

A reporter asked: Recently, the United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines held their first joint maritime exercise in the South China Sea. The defense ministers of the four countries declared in the joint statement that the move was aimed at demonstrating the "collective commitment" to strengthen cooperation. It is also reported that the leaders of the United States, Japan and the Philippines recently held a tripartite summit. The United States said that any attack on Philippine aircraft, ships or armed forces would trigger the United States Philippines Joint Defense Treaty. Some critics believe that this is intended to offset China's growing economic, diplomatic and military influence in the region. What is China's comment on this?

Wu Qian said that China has always believed that defense cooperation between any country should not target other specific countries and should not harm regional peace and stability. China's relevant activities in the South China Sea are reasonable, legal and beyond reproach. On the contrary, some countries outside the region frequently send ships and aircraft to the South China Sea to show off their force, draw allies to engage in a "small circle" against China, or even threaten and intimidate China by triggering the so-called common defense treaty, which is irresponsible and extremely dangerous.

Wu Qian stressed that the South China Sea is the common home of countries in the region. China has always advocated that differences should be properly handled through dialogue and consultation, firmly opposed to the involvement of external forces, and firmly opposed to provocations and creating regional tensions. Recently, on the one hand, the Philippines has attracted foreign forces to intervene and intrude into the islands and reefs of China's Nansha Islands; on the other hand, it has launched a propaganda machine to hype the so-called China "bully the small with the big", pretending to be a victim who runs into porcelain everywhere and sells it miserably. China firmly opposes this. To solve the South China Sea issue, we should be reasonable, rather than comparing size with size. The Chinese side never bully the small with the big, but it will never let the Philippines make trouble without reason. On the issue of safeguarding national sovereignty and security, the Chinese army has always been true to its word.

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