Philippines wants Chinese private investors, not joint oil development with China

Manila: The Philippines has opted for private investment from China after junking the proposal of a government to government joint oil project in the Philippine-claimed area in the South China Sea, a local paper said.

"I reiterated our position that we are open to inviting China in the Recto Bank (claimed by the Philippines in the South China Sea) as an investor (to look for oil) to be governed by (our) laws," Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario told the Inquirer, about the result of his recent meeting in Manila with Wang Yingfan and Wang Chungui, two former Chinese ambassadors to the Philippines.

"The Recto Bank (Reed Bank) is an integral part of the Philippines and, as such, cannot be jointly developed," explained del Rosario, adding, "To do so would be in violation of our Constitution."

To insist on the project is "not a viable solution (to the problem of overlapping claims in the area)," said del Rosario.

Del Rosario met with the two former Chinese envoys last week to discuss possible solution to the Spratly issue.

At the same time, the Philippines reiterated that China should avail of "the dispute settlement mechanism under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (or UNCLOS to help resolve the issue in the South China Sea)," said del Rosario.

All governments with claims in the South China Sea must resort to "all means to arrive at a peaceful solution of the disputes in the West Philippine Sea in accordance with international law, specifically Unclos," del Rosario said.

In a meeting with reporters at the Chinese Embassy, following his dialogue with del Rosario, Wang Yingfan said that China and the Philippines must jointly explore and develop areas in the South China Sea.

Wang claimed that del Rosario's response to the proposal was "very encouraging," adding, "With goodwill and with hard work, we could find a way out that's agreeable and acceptable to both sides."

Wang reiterated China's old position that the Philippines should not allow a third party like the United States, the latter's ally, to help resolve the problem, adding, "That would make the issue more complicated and more difficult to settle among ourselves."

Wang was an envoy in the Philippines from 1988 to 1990.

The meeting was part of efforts from the Philippines and China to implement their declaration of 2012 and 2013 as "Years of Friendly Exchanges" during the state visit of Philippine President Benigno Aquino to Beijing last August.

China, Taiwan, and Vietnam claim the whole of the South China Sea, while the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei claim some parts of the Spratly Archipelago near their respective countries in the South China Sea.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam are part of the 10 member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

China always wanted joint (bilateral) projects with claimant countries, but ASEAN has always opted for a multilateral solution to the problem in the South China Sea.