China to work with PBBM gov’t
On possible joint oil, gas exploration in South China Sea
BEIJING is ready to work with the incoming Marcos administration to continue the negotiation on the joint oil exploration and development in the disputed South China Sea (SCS).
In a regular press conference in Beijing, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Friday said joint offshore oil and gas development is the right way for China and the Philippines to manage maritime differences and achieve win-win results without prejudicing either side’s maritime positions and claims.
Wang’s reaction was made when asked to comment on Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.’s statement that the Philippines has terminated talks with China on joint energy project in SCS.
“China stands ready to work in concert with the new Philippine government to advance negotiations on joint development and strive to take early substantive steps so as to deliver tangible benefits to both countries and peoples,” Wang said.
“Leaders of the two countries reached important common understanding on this. The two governments signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation (MOU) on Oil and Gas Development and have actively pursued negotiations and made important progress within this framework,” he added.
In November 2018, an MOU was signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the Philippines for the joint oil and gas exploration.
This allowed the two nations to “negotiate on an accelerated basis arrangement to facilitate oil and gas exploration and exploitation” in the West Philippine Sea consistent with applicable rules of international law.
But Locsin on Thursday revealed that the Philippines initiated the termination of the three-year negotiations.
He said the talks went as far as constitutionally possible but another step forward would have risked a constitutional crisis.
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