Last Updated: December 17, 2023, 12:45 IST
Philippines’ President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. attends the retreat session of the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Image: Reuters)
Philippine President Marcos addresses South China Sea tensions, emphasising energy exploration challenges.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said his country is working to resolve “exploration issues” in the South China Sea so it could start new energy exploration projects in the waterway to meet his nation’s energy needs.
In an interview with Japanese media on Saturday, Marcos said tensions in the South China Sea have “increased rather than diminished” in recent months, warning that a “more assertive China” posed a “real challenge” to its Asian neighbours.
“We are still at a deadlock right now. It is in a conflict area. So, that’s another thing that we have to try and resolve to see what role any countries play,” President Marcos said in an interview with Japanese media when asked about the current issue in the maritime region. “It’s still of course the position of the Philippines that this is not in a conflict area. This is very clearly within our EEZ [exclusive economic zone]… within our baselines, within the maritime territory, the Philippines,” he said.
Strategic Waterways
The Philippines and China have resumed discussions about jointly exploring oil and gas resources in the South China Sea, where the two nations have sparred for decades over sovereign rights to develop natural resources in the strategic waterway. However, “very little progress” has been made about the talks, Marcos said, according to a press release from his office as he attends a Tokyo summit of Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“We are still at a deadlock right now,” Marcos said as he emphasised his country’s right to exploit energy reserves in the West Philippines Sea at a time the Philippines wants to reduce its reliance on fossil fuel and coal and transition to liquified natural gas.
Manila refers to the portion of the South China Sea that is within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as the West Philippine Sea. Efforts to find a legally viable way to cooperate on energy exploration have stalled repeatedly, with previous administration abandoning talks in June last year citing constitutional constraints and issues of sovereignty. Earlier this month, Manila and Beijing traded accusations over a collision of their vessels near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea as tensions over claims in the vital waterway escalate.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to be able to say that tensions have increased rather than diminished for the past months or the past years,” Marcos said as he underlined the need to resolve issues peacefully. The challenge that China posed required “new solutions”, said Marcos, who has promised to defend his country’s rights in the South China Sea after the collision, which Manila has described as a “serious escalation”.
