Playing on words will by no means whitewash Japan's moves of rearmament, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday, commenting on recent erroneous remarks by a spokesperson for Japan's Defense Ministry.

"Statistics do not lie," Mao told reporters in response to a query at a daily press briefing. "The harder Japan tries to cover things up, the more vigilant the international community should be."

She said Japan packages overseas military deployment as exercising the rights to collective self-defense, glosses over its buildup of offensive capabilities as acquiring counterstrike capabilities and covers up its exports of lethal weapons with the so-called equipment technology cooperation.

By twisting the facts, Tokyo attempts to deceive Japan and the international community, Mao said.

(With input from Xinhua)