Japan,US urged not to harm 3rd-party interests

BEIJING - A Foreign Ministry spokesman on Friday urged Japan and the United States not to harm the interests of third parties and to respect the security concerns of regional countries.

"Their bilateral alliance was forged under a specific historical situation and should not infringe upon the interests of third parties or exceed the bilateral framework," spokesman Hong Lei said while commenting on a possible review of Japan-US defense alliance guidelines between the senior defense officials of the two nations.

Kyodo News reported that Japan's senior vice defense minister Akihisa Nagashima and US Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter will hold talks during Nagashima's visit to the US, which begins on November 9.

They will discuss a possible review of bilateral defense alliance guidelines for the purpose of expanding cooperation between Japan's self-defense forces and the US military, according to the report.

"We hope the two countries will respect the security concerns of regional countries and do more to help maintain regional peace and stability," Hong said.