Major hurdles – and rewards – as China and Philippines try to forge deal to share South China Sea resources
If the two sides manage to reach an agreement, an outcome that is far assured given the myriad political and legal complexities, it could radically alter the dynamics of a vexing geopolitical dispute
Ahead of President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to Manila in November, the Philippines and China have taken a major step towards resolving their maritime disputes. Last month, the Philippine government announced the formation of a technical working group to iron out the legality of a resource sharing agreement with China in the South China Sea.
By the end of September, the two neighbours expect to finalise a basic framework for a joint exploration agreement in their overlapping areas of claim. The big prize is the disputed Reed Bank, located within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as well as China’s nine-dash-line claim that encircled as much as 90 per cent of the South China Sea.
Given the political sensitivity and legal complexity of the issue, the Philippines and China are looking at a joint exploration scheme as a preliminary step before an actual Joint Development Agreement (JDA) in the South China Sea.
If the two sides manage to pull off a resource sharing deal, an outcome that is far assured, it could radically alter the dynamics of the most vexing geopolitical dispute of the century.
From China’s point of view, any resource sharing arrangement builds on Deng Xiaoping’s age-old formula of peaceful dispute management with neighbours: “[S]overeignty remains ours; shelve disputes; pursue joint development.”
Drawing in Deng’s advice, the Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao administrations managed to resolve 17 of 23 border disputes, particularly those in continental Asia. As a compromise, China either reduced the scope of its claims or, in few cases, abandoned its original claims.