The Philippines suddenly announced the suspension of oil and gas exploration in the East Sea
Philippine presidential spokesman Martin Andanar on April 20 announced that Manila stopped oil and gas exploration activities in the South China Sea, after receiving information that the Coast Guard vessel China tracked the Philippine survey ship in the area.
Oil and gas exploration activities off the coast of the Philippines in the South China Sea were restored in October 2020, when President Rodrigo Duterte lifted a related ban dating back to 2014. The decision is expected to spur negotiations. talks on joint exploration with China in the region, according to AFP. However, Filipino companies involved in two oil and gas projects in the region were ordered to halt once again.
Philippine presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said the Philippine government’s security advisers “have halted exploration activities in the disputed West Philippine Sea”, but did not provide a reason, according to AFP. The West Philippine Sea is the sea in East Sea which the Philippine government claims to be in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
 |
Philippine coast guard ship and Chinese coast guard ship in one appearance in the South China Sea AFP |
The Philippine Department of Energy has objected to the new decision.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it was trying to confirm information from the media that a Chinese coast guard vessel had been tracking Philippine survey ships at one or two of the aforementioned projects recently.
Back in 2018, Manila and Beijing signed an agreement to cooperate in oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea. However, the two governments have so far not identified specific projects, said Jay Batongbacal, director of the Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines.
Mr. Batongbacal said that the suspension of the above exploration was a sign that the Philippines was China pressure to stop operations in the area. “China is trying to get the Philippines to agree on joint exploration and development only on China’s terms. That is coercion. The Philippines is under that pressure. That situation really does not bode well for the future of any exploration and production activities in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.Batongbacal commented.
at Blogtuan.info – Source: thanhnien.vn – Read the original article here
