- The Philippines says China is “hindering” its companies from exploring natural resources in the South China Sea.
- The South China Sea is a key shipping route that holds major oil and gas reserves.
- The region has seen rising tensions between Manila and Beijing in recent years.
China’s activity in the contested South China Sea is “hindering” Filipino companies from exploring natural resources in the region, Philippines Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said during a talk at Chatham House in London on Tuesday.
“The ability of our own companies, for example, to develop natural resources, for example, oil exploration, is also being hindered by the need of one country to be involved in those activities,” Manalo said while discussing pressures the Philippines has faced from China in the region.
The South China Sea is an important shipping route that holds major oil and gas reserves.
In recent years, the region has seen rising tensions between Manila and Beijing, with a series of clashes making headlines.
In one incident in June last year, a Filipino military commander said Filipino soldiers were forced to defend themselves with their “bare hands” against Chinese coast guard personnel armed with swords and knives.
Other incidents have included the Philippines accusing China of repeatedly firing flares at its aircraft over the South China Sea and China’s largest coastguard vessel dropping anchor in Manila’s exclusive economic zone.
“These incidents hit home directly,” Manalo said, pointing to the June incident around the Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll located within the exclusive economic zone.
“Because one country claims that lies within their area and is questioning our right to be there, they harassed, and in fact, a number of incidents occurred over the past two years, consisting of water cannoning, the use of lasers, even ramming.”
“This is also of great concern, obviously, because if these incidents were to escalate further, then obviously tensions would really rise dramatically,” he continued, adding that the Philippines was “absolutely committed” to trying to manage such incidents peacefully.
While China has claimed sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, an international tribunal ruled in 2016 that its claims to waters within its “nine-dash line” — which Beijing uses to illustrate its claims to islands and adjacent waters in the South China Sea — had no legal basis.
Under the terms of the 1951 “Mutual Defense Treaty,” the US is obliged to defend the Philippines in a major conflict.
After a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the Munich Security Conference last week, Manalo said the US-Philippines alliance was “still on hyperdrive” under President Donald Trump’s administration.
“We may even try and aim for an even more enhanced level of cooperation,” he said.
