The Philippines and China are resuming discussions on potential joint oil and gas development next month, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila said on Tuesday, despite the Philippines’ top court striking down a deal oil exploration with China in the disputed South China Sea.
The resumption of talks comes after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s visit to Beijing in January, focused on strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries.
A joint statement on the meeting said negotiations would resume “at a soon date” on a 2018 agreement on potential joint oil and gas development in the South China Sea. But less than a week after the declaration, the Philippine Supreme Court struck down a 2005 pact between Beijing, Hanoi and Manila for tripartite research into potential oil in the disputed sea.
However, the DFA announced on Tuesday, “in light of the joint statement issued during the President’s state visit to Beijing last January 5, on the agreement “to resume discussions on oil development and gas at an early date” that the Philippines and China will meet for preparatory talks in Beijing sometime in May.”
“The meeting will discuss parameters and terms of reference,” he added.
The Sino-Philippines statement said: “On oil and gas cooperation, both sides agreed to take into account the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding on Oil and Gas Development Cooperation between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the government of the Republic of the Philippines signed in 2018 and agreed to resume discussions on oil and gas development soon, based on the results of previous talks, with the aim of benefiting both countries and their peoples”.
In 2018, the two governments “decided to negotiate agreements on an expedited basis to facilitate the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas in the relevant maritime areas in accordance with the applicable rules of international law,” the memorandum of understanding stated ( MOU).
The memorandum of understanding was signed under the administration of then-President Rodrigo Duterte, who sought warmer relations with China and, in the process, often entered a collision course with traditional US ally the Philippines .
The 2018 pact came two years after the government of Duterte’s predecessor Benigno Aquino III won against China in the Permanent Court of Arbitration over the South China Sea, parts of which are also claimed by Brunei. Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. The July 2016 ruling invalidated Beijing’s general “nine-dash line” and historic claims over the South China Sea. Both are “of no lawful effect to the extent that they exceed the geographic and substantive limits of China’s maritime rights under the Convention,” the ruling said, referring to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea .
To contact the author, please send an email jov.onsat@gmail.com
