Navy insists games with Vietnam in disputed island not meant to offend China

MANILA, Philippines - The Navy on Tuesday maintained that the friendly games between Filipino and Vietnamese sailors in the hotly-contested Spratlys archipelago were not meant to pick a quarrel with China.

Navy civil-military operations group commander Col. Edgard Arevalo said the games seek to maintain the relationship between the Philippines and Vietnam despite their overlapping territorial claims.

“We want to show that the fellowship can still be developed notwithstanding the conflicting claims,” Arevalo said in an interview.  

“Definitely, it’s not meant to pick on China,” he added.

Arevalo said the activity also sought to promote “harmony and mutual respect” between the two neighbors.

“Sports eases tension and enhances camaraderie. We have tried it with Vietnam and it worked,” he said.

On Sunday, the Philippines and Vietnam held the first ever friendship games in Spratlys in a display of cooperation that officials hope will ease the growing tensions in the region.

Filipino and Vietnamese navy troops set aside the overlapping territorial claims of their countries and played football, volleyball and tug-of-war at the Southwest Cay or Pugad Island, an area controlled by Hanoi.

China, as expected, reacted negatively on the holding of the friendly games, calling it “a clumsy farce.”

"We require the Philippines and Vietnam to stop all the provocative actions, strictly abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and refrain from any action that may complicate and aggravate the disputes," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a press conference in Beijing last Monday.

Despite China’s comments, the Philippine Navy remains determined to continue the friendly  exchanges with Vietnam.

“It bears emphasizing that the agreement to have the Philippines as venue of the next goodwill games with Vietnam is already a commitment. And we do not intend to renege on such hosting,” Arevalo said.  

“If the end is to maintain good relations and amity with a neighboring nation; and sports is one of the means to attain it, then the Navy will have to pursue it,” he added.

Pugad, the venue of the friendly games, is one of the islands in the Spratlys archipelago and is about five nautical miles from the Philippine-controlled Parola (Northeast Cay) Island. Filipino soldiers used to control the area until they left for Parola in 1975. 

The Philippines and Vietnam are claimants in the West Philippine Sea dispute along with Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and China, which claims about 90 percent of the area.