ISTANBUL
Philippines on Tuesday announced talks with China on joint oil and gas exploration in the disputed South China Sea will resume in May.
The two sides “will discuss parameters and terms of reference” of the potential joint exploration, the Southeast Asian nation’s Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
China and the Philippines hinted in January that the two maritime neighbors may resume joint energy exploration in the disputed South China Sea.
The indication came after China’s President Xi Jinping hosted his Philippines counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Beijing during the latter’s first state trip outside the Southeast Asian region.
“China will work with the Philippines to continue to properly handle maritime issues through friendly consultation, resume negotiations on oil and gas exploration, promote cooperation on oil and gas exploration in non-disputed areas, and conduct green energy cooperation on photovoltaics, wind power, and new energy vehicles,” Xi had said.
A statement released by the Philippines’ presidency had also said Marcos mentioned the “continuing negotiation for the joint exploration between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, which he said is very important to the Philippines.”
However, days after Marcos’ trip to Beijing, the Philippines Supreme Court had declared the country’s tripartite agreement with China and Vietnam for energy exploration in the disputed South China Sea void and unconstitutional.
In 2018, Manila and Beijing signed an agreement to explore oil and gas reserves in the South China Sea, a hotspot of conflicting territorial claims by several countries apart from China and the Philippines.
The deal came two years after the Philippines won a case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that invalidated China’s expansive claims over the sea.
Manila terminated the deal shortly before former President Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year term expired in 2022.
