Philippines stops oil and gas exploration in South China Sea
The Philippines has announced it is suspending oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea, as it tries to reach an agreement with China on a joint energy project.
“The Philippine Security, Justice and Peace Coordination (SJPCC) has suspended all exploration activities in disputed areas in the South China Sea,” said Martin Andanar, presidential spokesman. Philippines Rodrigo Duterte said on April 20 but did not give the reason.
The Philippine Department of Energy opposed the decision, saying that “geophysical surveying is perfectly legal activity in any contested area”. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs meanwhile said it was trying to confirm reports from the media that a coast guard ship China been tailing Philippine survey ships recently.
Philippine Coast Guard during a maritime exercise in the South China Sea in April 2021. Image: Philippine Coast Guard.
Philippine oil and gas exploration activities in the South China Sea resumed in October 2020, after President Duterte lifted a suspension imposed since 2014.
Manila in 2018 signed with Beijing an agreement to cooperate in oil and gas development in the South China Sea. However, the two governments so far are said to have not identified specific projects in the agreement.
Jay Batongbacal, director of the Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines, said the Philippines’ decision to suspend exploration was a sign that the country was under pressure from China. “Basically, China is trying to get the Philippines to agree to joint exploration and development on the terms China offers,” he said.
The Philippines is facing an increasingly depleted energy reserve. The Malampaya gas field, which provides 40% of the energy needs of the main island of Luzon, is expected to run out in the next few years.
Tensions between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea have increased during the last year of President Duterte’s term. The Philippines late last month accused a Chinese coast guard ship of harassing its coast guard ship while operating near Scarborough Shoal. Manila says this is the fourth close encounter between the Philippine Coast Guard and the Chinese coast guard in the Scarborough Shoal area since May 2021.
Previously, after the Philippines’ case, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 rejected the “nine-dash line” claim that Beijing unilaterally drew to claim sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, but China ignored the ruling. decide.
Ngoc Anh (According to AFP)
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