Chinese minister hopes Philippines will revive talks on oil, gas deals in South China Sea
- Liu Jianchao, head of the CCP’s diplomatic arm, says the maritime row shouldn’t come between the countries as Beijing moves towards a ‘golden era’ in ties with Manila
- The previous Duterte administration had terminated talks over joint energy exploration deals in the South China Sea, citing constitutional constraints
Liu Jianchao, head of the Communist Party’s diplomatic arm, the International Liaison Department, told reporters in Manila last weekend that the discussions could continue if both sides showed “some kind of flexibility”.
“It seems that there are some legal barriers or legal factors that are standing in the way of a final consensus,” said Liu, who previously served as the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines.
“I hope that both sides will move about this issue in a way that is feasible and practical so that the cooperation could be continued and realised.”
Marcos says he’ll assert Philippines’ South China Sea rights ‘with a firm voice’
The two countries have sparred for decades over maritime sovereignty and had since 2018 pledged to jointly explore oil and gas assets in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), despite China also laying claim to them.
Liu also met Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo and exchanged views on a range of issues, including stalled China-backed infrastructure projects.
The Chinese minister said they did not want “to spend too much time discussing the feasibility of the projects that were previously agreed upon and once consensus is reached, the deals will move ahead”.
Meanwhile, the youth-backed West Philippine Sea Coalition on Monday urged Marcos Jnr to stand up against Beijing’s maritime assertiveness in the South China Sea when he addresses the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York in September.
In his first State of the Nation speech last month, the president pledged that the Philippines would use diplomacy and be “a good neighbour” to other countries, but would not yield an inch of its territory.
China continues to defy a 2016 ruling by a UN-backed arbitration tribunal that invalidated Beijing’s extensive claims in the South China Sea on historical grounds. The tribunal also ruled that China’s massive land reclamations and actions against Filipino fishermen at a disputed shoal violated the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.