Philippines Plans to Explore Oil-Rich Sea Amid China Tension
- Seeks to assert sea rights amid ‘untenable’ China stance
- China says Manila shouldn’t infringe on its sea rights
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The Philippines is building defense alliances with the US and other security partners to help pave the way for resource exploration in the oil-and-gas-rich South China Sea, the nation’s top defense official said, prompting a warning from Beijing.
“I really do think it’s quite urgent that we start now,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday in his office in Manila. While he declined to provide details, Teodoro, 59, said that resource exploration is “part of the package” of the Philippines’ strategy in fighting for its territory.