Philippines, China to resume talks on exploration in South China Sea
The Philippines and China have agreed to resume talks on oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea, the state-owned Philippines News Agency (PNA) reported on January 5.
The two governments agreed to start the talks at an "early date" following the bilateral summit between President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Chinese president Xi Jinping on January 4.
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In a joint statement, the department of foreign affairs of the Philippines and the Chinese foreign ministry said discussions would build upon the outcomes of the previous negotiations during the Duterte administration, "with a view of benefiting the two countries and their peoples."
"On oil and gas cooperation, both sides agreed to bear in mind the spirit of the memorandum of understanding on cooperation on oil and gas development between the government of the People’s Republic of China and the government of the Republic of Philippines signed in 2018, and agreed to resume discussions on oil and gas development at an early date," the statement read.
Talks on a possible oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea were terminated during the time of former president Rodrigo Duterte over constitutional constraints. After repeated requests from China, both sides eventually held an "initial discussion" in July and August for the possible revival of negotiations, PNA said.
The Philippines government stated that the public is assured that any agreement that would come out from the discussions would be "in accordance with the Philippine constitution".
The 1987 constitution states that the exploration, development, and use of natural resources should be under the "full control and supervision" of the Philippine government.