PH, Chinese diplomats play sports in rare display of camaraderie amid sea disputes
Filipino and Chinese diplomats played badminton and bowling Sunday in a rare display of camaraderie amid simmering tensions between the Philippines and China over years-long disputes in the resource-rich South China Sea.
The day-long sports festival hosted by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs in Tagaytay, a popular holiday destination south of Manila, was attended by several Chinese embassy staff and diplomats led by its Ambassador, Huang Xilliian, and more than a dozen from the DFA's Asia-Pacific Division headed by its Assistant Secretary, Evangeline Ong-Ducrocq.
'Glad to attend the ASPAC Friendlies together with my colleagues commemorating the 50th anniversary of CN-PH relations,' said Huang on Facebook.
'The bowling lanes and badminton courts were not just venues for friendly competition, but also arenas where joy was shared and friendship was deepened. Every act of sportsmanship and every shared victory have brought us closer. Let's work together for a better future. Mabuhay!'
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(Photo from the FB post of Chinese Ambassador to PH Huang Xilian)
June 9 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the Philippines and China. Several activities and cultural events in the Philippines and China were held this month to commemorate the occasion.
Chinese Coast Guard, Navy and suspected militia ships have had an alarming number of confrontations with Philippine Coast Guard, Navy and Bureau of Fisheries patrol ships in the disputed waters, where Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei lay claims.
China claims the South China Sea virtually in its entirety and has deployed much larger fleets of coast guard, navy and suspected maritime militia ships in the past years to assert that extensive claim against smaller claimant states.
In 2012, former President Benigno Aquino III signed an administrative order renaming the stretch of waters in the South China Sea closer to the Philippines' western coast as West Philippine Sea.
An international arbitration decision in 2016 ruled to invalidate China's territorial claims, but Beijing did not participate in the proceedings initiated by the Philippines and ignored the decision.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has developed closer military and defense ties with the U.S., its treaty ally, and other 'like-minded' states to strengthen the country's external defense, including in the West Philippine Sea. —LDF, GMA Integrated News
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