BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- What the Asia-Pacific region needs most is peace and tranquility, not the introduction of external forces or the fomenting of division and confrontation, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday.

Guo made the remarks at a regular press briefing in response to a question on the annual military exercises conducted by the United States and the Philippines, which kicked off on Monday.

"Unilateralism and military bullying have already caused grave harm to the world," Guo said.

He added that military and security cooperation between countries should not undermine mutual understanding and trust among regional countries, nor undermine regional peace and stability, target or harm the interests of third parties.

"We would like to remind the countries concerned that blindly binding themselves in terms of security will only backfire and harm themselves," the spokesperson said. ■