TOKYO - Japan should first check whether the exposed spying was true with the United States and then try to understand its ally's true intention, instead of responding to the messages released by Wikileaks, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday. Abe made the remarks at a special committee meeting of the upper house of Japan's Diet while responding to the recently exposed U.S. spying on Japan by the Wikileaks website.

"If the alleged spying were true as the Wikileaks website revealed, as an ally of the U.S., Japan would find it extremely regrettable," Abe said, adding, "We are strongly asking the U.S. to check the facts.

" The Wikileaks website on Friday posted U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) reports and a list of 35 Japanese targets for telephone intercepts, including the Japanese Cabinet Office, the Bank of Japan, the country's finance and trade ministries, and major Japanese trading companies.

According to the website, the eavesdropping dated back to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's first government in 2006, and one report from telephone intercepts of senior Japanese officials could have been shared with Australia, Canada, Britain and New Zealand - the U.S. intelligence partners. (Xinhua)