Beijing says it's open to oil exploration talks

THE Chinese Embassy in Manila said Beijing remains open for oil and gas exploration talks with Manila as long as the Philippines shows its sincerity for such discussions. The embassy was asked to comment on the remarks of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in a Bloomberg interview, that he is open to resuming discussions with China on a joint oil and gas project in a disputed area of the South China Sea. It noted that China and the Philippines in the past “have conducted in-depth discussions on joint oil and gas development in disputed waters in the South China Sea and have made positive progress.” Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the latter’s state visit to Beijing on Jan. 5, 2023, issued a joint statement on the agreement “to resume discussions on oil and gas development at an early date.” “As long as the Philippine side demonstrates sincerity, China’s door to dialogue and cooperation will remain open,” the embassy said in a statement on Thursday. “Setting aside differences and pursuing joint development is the right path to uphold peace and stability in the South China Sea and deliver benefits to countries in the region and their peoples,” it added. The Palace on Thursday said the Philippines is not ruling out the possibility of engaging in a joint exploration with China to develop oil and gas resources in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro issued the statement in reaction to Beijing’s pronouncement that it is willing to strike a deal with Manila if it would show “sincerity.” The Philippines and China have been long embroiled in a territorial dispute over the WPS. “The Philippines has never been insincere. In all occasions, the Philippines has always been sincere in talking, in negotiating, especially under the leadership of President Marcos. He doesn’t have a secret deal. If the negotiation can lead to anything that will be good for the Philippines, the president will not object to that,” Castro said in Filipino. “Right now, there is no joint exploration with China, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be [any in the future]. So, the Philippines is also open to that,” she added. The United States and Israeli war against Iran, which triggered oil prices to skyrocket in the international market, could provide an impetus for the Philippines and China to finally reach a deal. “That’s something we are exploring. Everything that might be of help we are certainly pursuing,” Marcos said. But the Philippines claims exclusive rights over the natural maritime resources in the contested waterway which China refuses to recognize. Given the current geopolitical situation, Marcos raised the possibility of a “reset” in the two countries’ strained relations. “There’s going to be a very, very serious restructuring,” he said. Constitutional challenge Joint exploration faces constitutional challenges, however. In 2023, then-senator Francis Tolentino urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to carefully study the government’s plan to have another round of gas exploration talks with China. Tolentino said the DFA should take into consideration what the Constitution provides when it comes to the Philippines’ rights in its exclusive economic zone. He said the DFA should consider the 2016 Hague arbitral ruling and the recent Supreme Court decision which invalidated the 2005 Tripartite Agreement for Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) before entering into another partnership with China. Voting 12-2-1, the Supreme Court on Jan. 10, 2023, invalidated the tripartite agreement between China National Offshore Oil Corp., Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp., and Philippine National Oil Co. involving an area in the South China Sea covering 142,886 square kilometers. The court ruled that the JMSU is unconstitutional for allowing wholly owned foreign corporations to participate in the exploration of the country’s natural resources without observing the safeguards provided in Section 2, Article 12 of the 1987 Constitution. In 2023, then-Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III also raised the need for transparency from both Philippine and Chinese governments if the proposed negotiations for joint oil and gas explorations in WPS pushed through. Pimentel, in a statement, said the purpose of transparency “is for us to know if the agreement is compliant with our Constitution.” Transparency “is crucial for these talks to prosper, most especially when it involves our rights over some parts” of WPS, he added. Tolentino also said that since the matter involves foreign policy and national security, it is only proper that the Senate must be involved in any future exploratory talks with China. He noted that the 2016 Arbitral Ruling invalidated China’s “nine-dash line” claim, the basis of Beijing’s expansion in the South China Sea and the WPS.

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