China says it is ready to negotiate to the Philippines about sharing oil and gas in the South China Sea. But China wants the Philippines to prove that it really wants to talk first.
This is what the Chinese Embassy in Manila said after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told Bloomberg News on March 24 that the war in Iran is causing oil prices to rise around the world. Marcos claimed that this situation could ultimately get the two countries to work together to locate oil in the South China Sea.
The Chinese Embassy said, “The best way to keep the peace in the South China Sea and help people in the area is to work together on oil and gas.”
This is the clearest indicator from both countries that they might start talking about oil again after four years of no progress.
The battle in the Middle East has made oil prices go up a lot. The Philippines gets most of its oil from the Gulf region, therefore the rising prices are hurting the country a lot. Because of this, Marcos declared a national energy emergency this week.
Marcos said that disagreements over land had kept the two countries from making any oil deals for a long time. He added that the current crisis might make both sides ultimately come to an accord.
Theresa Lazaro, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the Philippines, indicated that Marcos had not yet given a formal order to initiate discussions with China again, but she did not suggest it was impossible. She also said that an official order might come soon.
The Philippines and China couldn’t agree on who owns the South China Sea, therefore their discussions didn’t work out. The Constitution of the Philippines also limits how much natural resources foreign firms can get to. These issues were never completely fixed.
In 2023, both countries agreed to try again, but the talks went nowhere because tensions at sea were rising.
