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Philippines split over South China Sea deal with China
POLICY
THE Philippine government’s struggle to pres- ent a unified front over a possible exploration partnership with China in disputed waters of the South China Sea continued this week.
Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo said on October 28 that before any exploration agree- ment was signed with China, Beijing should first recognise Manila’s sovereignty over the waters in question. This is a markedly different position to that taken by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has said the question of sover- eignty can be set aside entirely in the interests of economic development.
The two countries signed a non-binding agreement in 2018 to investigate the possibility of forming a joint venture to explore waters that lie within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but which are still claimed by China via its controversial nine-dash line.
“For me, the basic premise should be, even before we enter into any agreement with China, China has to first recognise our ownership and sovereignty over the area that would be subject to a joint exploration,” Robredo told ABS-CBN News Channel on October 28.
Robredo said this was necessary given that the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague had ruled in 2016 that most of Chi- na’s claims over the South China Sea, including the area that Manila refers to as the West Philip- pine Sea, were invalid.
Cutting ties
Although his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, had brought the case before the PCA, Duterte has studiously avoided being tied to the court’s ruling.
On September 10, Duterte said: “The [EEZ] is part of the arbitral ruling, which we will ignore to come up with an economic activity [with China].”
Duterte added that during his latest visit to Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping had offered the Philippines 60% of the revenue generated from the two countries’ joint exploration project as long as Duterte “set aside the arbitral ruling”. The Chinese government has neither confirmed nor denied Duterte’s assertions.
His comments were later walked back on by presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo during a September 12 press conference, who said set- ting aside the ruling was not the same as aban- doning it.
However, Rodrigo’s increasingly ambivalent position on the PCA’s ruling has unnerved many officials. Indeed, Robredo’s comments came after Philippine National Security Advisor Hermo- genes Esperon Jr said on October 25 that a 60:40
sharing model was in his country’s interests. “That’s the net because they spend for all construction and all other things,” Esperon told reporters in a briefing. “They’re spending for it
and we’re getting more. More than fair, right?” Esperon said the Philippines’ steering com- mittee, of which he is part, was gearing up for its first round of talks with its Chinese counterpart. The two governments agreed that their commit-
tees would negotiate the final details of a deal. The security advisor said his country’s share of revenue could still end up being higher, add-
ing: “You will know after the talks.”
Russian connections
Although Duterte has been open to deepen- ing energy ties with China, he has also begun to court an offshore partnership with Russia, suggesting the president still wants to keep his options open.
The South-East Asian country welcomed a delegation from Russia’s state-run Rosneft earlier
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 43 30•October•2019