China is looking to revive negotiations on joint oil exploration with the “new Philippine government” amid the two nations’ ongoing issues over maritime differences regarding the disputed South China/West Philippine Sea, officials said on Thursday.
In a press conference in Beijing on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that “China stands ready to work in concert with the new Philippine government to advance negotiations on joint development and strive to take early substantive steps so as to deliver tangible benefits to both countries and peoples.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman made the comment after the Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. announced that negotiations between China and the Philippines regarding the planned joint oil exploration in the West Philippine Sea had been terminated under President Rodrigo Duterte’s order….