Philippine and Vietnamese troops plan to hold joint "fun games" in the Spratlys to calm tensions over the disputed island chain in the South China Sea, the Philippine navy chief said Tuesday.

The islands, also claimed by China, are regarded as one of Asia's most dangerous potential flashpoints but there will be no weapons involved, said Vice Admiral Alexander Pama.

"We will be sending some of our boys to their occupied islands and they will also be sending their boys to our occupied islands," Pama told correspondents, dubbing it "fun games."

"They will actually be doing games, like basketball or soccer (and) there will be no firearms (training) involved."

Pama said the joint activity was part of an agreement with his Vietnamese counterpart who accompanied President Truong Tan Sang on a visit to Manila late last year.

Apart from the games, he said troops from both sides would also boost information sharing on the weather and search and rescue operations involving fishermen who may run into trouble in disputed areas.

Asked whether other claimants to the Spratlys could also be invited to take part in the games, Pama replied: "There are no discussions along those lines."

The Spratlys is a group of islets and atolls believed to be potentially rich in mineral and gas deposits.

China and Taiwan both claim the entire South China Sea, which is called the West Philippine Sea by Manila, while the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam have overlapping claims to parts of it.

The Philippines and Vietnam have both accused China of increasingly flexing its military muscle in the region, despite a pledge from all claimants to avoid actions that could further stoke tensions.

Manila last year accused the Chinese military of firing on Filipino fishermen, laying buoys and harassing an oil exploration vessel in waters that fall within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

Regional leaders at a summit in Cambodia last week reaffirmed a commitment to settle the row peacefully by crafting a code of conduct in the area, but were divided over China's participation in the discussion.

China cruise ship completes tour in disputed waters
Beijing (AFP) April 10, 2012 - A Chinese cruise operator said Tuesday one of its ships had just returned from a trial tour to islands in the South China Sea that are also claimed by Vietnam, a move likely to anger Hanoi.

The ship went on a three-day trip to the Paracel Islands group -- Hoang Sa in Vietnamese and Xisha in Chinese -- over which Beijing and Hanoi have a long-standing territorial dispute, to investigate possible tourism routes.

The Scent of Princess Coconut docked at a port in the Chinese southern island of Hainan on Monday after the trip, said an employee surnamed Chen at the Hainan Strait Shipping Co Ltd., the cruise operator.

"I don't think it is diplomatically sensitive as the Xisha islands belong to China," he told AFP.

"The exact tourism routes have not been confirmed, this is still at a planning stage."

According to the official Xinhua news agency, the government of Hainan is drafting plans to develop tourism around the islands, and an initial proposal is that ships will sail to one of the islands but tourists will stay on board.

"They will tour around the northern shoals of Xisha, enjoying the awesome views and the blue sea, before returning to Hainan," Huang Peng, an official with the provincial transportation bureau, was quoted as saying.

"For the next stage, we will build bigger ships and make other improvements to meet the demands of high-end customers."

China and South Vietnam once administered different parts of the Paracels, but after a brief conflict in 1974, Beijing took control of the entire group of islands -- although this remains disputed by Hanoi.

As such, the islands are a constant source of tensions between the two neighbours, exacerbated by other territorial disputes over the Spratly archipelago -- also in the South China Sea.

A Vietnamese diplomat said last year that the region was "rife with smouldering tensions that threaten to escalate into full-scale conflicts".

Last month, China detained 21 crew sailing on two Vietnamese fishing boats near the Paracels, sparking an angry rebuke from Hanoi.

China has repeatedly said it exercises "indisputable sovereignty" over the Paracels and adjacent waters, which are rich with fish and contain potential oil and gas reserves.