Chinese President Xi Jinping - who arrived in the Manila on Nov. 20 for his first state visit - and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding involving a breakthrough joint oil and gas exploration set to take place in the contested South China Sea.
State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation and yet to be named Philippine energy firm will be leading the exploration.
While local Philippine officials and concerned citizens protested the deal over concerns on territorial disputes in the region, the draft framework stated that the MOU would not impact the sovereign rights and claims of the two nations. The draft text was released by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, a known Duterte critic.
The proposed joint exploration for oil and gas in the contested waters would be conducted within the principles of "mutual respect, fairness, and mutual benefit, flexibility, and pragmatism and consensus through equal friendly consultations," the draft text stated. The text also affirmed that all fruits of the joint exploration project would be equally shared between China and the Philippines.
The joint oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea was only one among the 29 MOUs signed by China and the Philippines. Another significant agreement involved telecommunications deal, while the others involved sectors concerning education, culture, industrial park development, infrastructure development, agriculture cooperatives, and sanitation protocols for shipping coconuts.
Political observers believed that President Xi's visit in Manila is another important sign of thawing relations and that the Philippines is now friendlier to China than the United States which has long been a strong ally until Duterte assumed office in 2016.
Meanwhile, U.S. ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim said Washington is not making any nation choose between them and China. In fact, Washington welcomes China's involvement in the Asia Pacific as long as the said involvement promotes regional stability.
He said this as the Philippines and the United States marked 67 years Mutual Defense Treaty alliance on Nov. 20.
The ambassador said the treaty, signed on Aug. 30, 1951, is a testament that close military partnership between the Philippines and the United States has been successful. The treaty underlined the strong defense and security ties between the two countries, he highlighted.
Kim also mentioned that the United States has delivered more than $95 million worth of airplanes, ships, and armored vehicles to the country since January 2017.
Washington has also been the Philippines' top trading partner, bringing in more than $20 billion last year. Additionally, the United States has been the top export destination for Philippines products just within the first six months of 2018.
