Japan should not take China's development of its first aircraft carrier as threat, Japan's former defense chief said at a forum in Beijing on Sunday afternoon.

Commenting on mutual trust in security issues between China and Japan at the 7th annual Beijing-Tokyo Forum, Ishiba Shigeru, Japan's former defense chief and now opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) policy chief said only the United States can put aircraft carriers into full use at present.

"I've always insisted that weaponry cannot tell lies," Ishiba Shigeru said. "Weapons tell what a nation's strategy is about, and I don't think China's development of its first aircraft carrier is to pose threat to Japan's security."