On April 20, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun made remarks at a regular news conference in response to the joint military exercise between the United States and the Philippines.

Guo Jiakun: The world has seen enough damage done by unilateralism and abuse of military might. What the Asia-Pacific needs most is peace and tranquility, and the last thing the region needs is division and confrontation as a result of the introduction of external forces. No military and security cooperation should be conducted at the expense of mutual understanding and trust as well as peace and stability in the region. Such cooperation should not target any third party or harm the interests of any third party. For countries that tie their own security to others, it is important to bear in mind that this may very well backfire.

(Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China)