(Radio Free Asia) Malaysia and the Philippines have said that they’re willing to discuss oil and gas exploration with China in the South China Sea, a move that analysts say may cause friction within ASEAN as the Southeast Asian bloc wants to accelerate negotiations for a Code of Conduct in order to avoid conflict.
On Tuesday the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said Manila would resume talks with Beijing on joint oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea, despite the country’s Supreme Court already having ruled against such activities.
The court in January decided that a trilateral joint exploration agreement between the Philippines, China and Vietnam – another party in the South China Sea dispute – was unconstitutional because it allowed “foreign corporations to participate in the exploration of the country’s natural resources” without observing required safeguards.
The agreement was signed in 2005 but failed to materialize.
In 2018, under then-President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines and China also signed a document on Cooperation on Oil and Gas Development but Duterte himself terminated the talks last June after both sides failed to resolve the issue of sovereignty over Reed Bank in the Spratlys… Read More