Beijing urges Phillipines of blaming others in rising tensions

Beijing urges the Philippines to "stop colluding with other countries to stir up tensions over maritime issues and stop shifting the blame onto others," Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday.

He was asked about the latest developments in the Philippines' defense cooperation with the US and Japan at a daily news conference in Beijing.

Manila "should not attempt to seek support from external forces or seek excuses to align itself with cliques", the spokesman said.

During Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos' recent visit to the US, the two sides announced that they will engage in closer military cooperation and reaffirmed that the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty applies to the South China Sea.

Earlier this month, Japanese media reported about a proposal of Tokyo to transfer six of the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force's Abukuma-class destroyers to the Philippines.

In response, Guo said Beijing has always opposed the moves of using the South China Sea issue as an excuse to strengthen military alliances and engage in targeted military deployments and actions.

"This will neither resolve the issue nor intimidate China, and this runs counter to the shared aspirations among Asian-Pacific nations for peace, development and stability," he said.

"The Philippines' cooperation with other countries on defense affairs should not target a third party, should not involve the South China Sea dispute, and certainly should not provoke confrontation or escalate the region's tension," he added.

The Philippines should "demonstrate its independence and autonomy through concrete actions and earnestly maintain the region's peace and stability," he said.