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Philippines abandons joint energy exploration talks with China
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MANILA, 24 June 2022, (TON): Philippines outgoing foreign minister said “talks over joint energy exploration between his country and China in the South China Sea had been terminated, citing constitutional constraints and issues of sovereignty.”
The two countries have sparred for decades over maritime sovereignty and had since 2018 pledged to jointly explore oil and gas assets in the Philippines exclusive economic zone, despite China also laying claim to them.
Teodoro Locsin said in a speech “we got as far as it is constitutionally possible to go. One step forward from where we stood on the edge of the abyss is a drop into constitutional crisis.”
Three years on and we had not achieved our objective of developing oil and gas resources so critical for the Philippines but not at the price of sovereignty; not even a particle of it.
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