Lucio Blanco Pitlo III

Opinion | How resource cooperation in disputed waters can be a win-win for China and the Philippines

Lucio Blanco Pitlo III says sharing energy exploration rights in disputed areas can benefit both Manila and Beijing: the latter can hold onto its traditional claims and show it can be a good neighbour, while the former can maintain its energy security

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte link hands while posing for a photo during the Asean Plus Three Summit in Vientiane, Laos, in September 2016. Photo: Reuters

Lucio Blanco Pitlo III

Published: 4:00am, 14 Aug 2018Updated: 6:38am, 14 Aug 2018

Two years after a landmark ruling in their dispute over maritime territory in the South China Sea, the Philippines and China appear to be making subtle progress in implementing parts of the judgment, particularly in relation to resource access. Dispute management, confidence building and goodwill have provided convenient face-saving covers for the moves.

This is especially so for Beijing, which vehemently professed it would not adhere to the ruling by an international arbitration tribunal. Getting China to refrain from interfering in the exercise of Philippine sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea was one of the ruling’s crucial points for Manila.

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Significant headway is being made on this front. Resumption of Filipino fishing in Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) and negotiations for joint exploration suggest both sides are moving forward, though not without difficulties.

Resource competition is a major driver in the decades-old six-party territorial and maritime row. Petroleum finds in the 1970s sparked a scramble to stake a presence in the sea and brought the flash point to the world’s attention. In 2012, a fishing incident in Bajo de Masinloc became one of the immediate triggers behind Manila’s decision to initiate arbitration proceedings against Beijing. In 2014, a Chinese oil rig dispatched in Vietnam’s EEZ raised bilateral tensions.

However, compared to the more sensitive sovereignty and national security issues, resource access occupies a lower rung and even offers low-hanging fruit for fostering cooperation and improving relations among claimants.