China urges relevant countries to stop forming blocs, creating camp confrontation

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense ministry spokesperson on Saturday urged relevant countries to stop forming blocs and creating camp confrontation.

Jiang Bin, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a press briefing when asked to comment on media reports that Japanese and Philippine defense officials issued a joint statement opposing "any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea and the South China Sea," and voicing concern over what they called China's "dangerous and coercive activities" near Japan and the Philippines. The two sides also pledged to strengthen defense cooperation in areas including equipment technology and information sharing.

"Certain politicians from Japan and the Philippines have been hyping up false narratives on maritime issues and making groundless accusations against China, which China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes," Jiang said.