Why revived China-Philippine talks won’t lead to energy cooperation in the South China Sea

China and the Philippines have competing claims to parts of the South China Sea.

Photo: Xinhua Maritime tensions between China and the Philippines are likely to persist despite Manila’s call for energy cooperation, Chinese observers said after revived diplomatic talks on the weekend.

Senior diplomats from the two countries met in the Chinese city of Quanzhou on Friday and Saturday for two rounds of talks, covering a range of issues from oil and gas cooperation in the South China Sea to renewable energy and coastguard communication.

The foreign ministry consultations were held for the first time in three years while the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea last convened in January 2025.

The mechanism was expected to be held twice a year when it was launched in 2017.

They were held just days after Manila declared a national energy crisis induced by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for missile strikes by Israel and the United States.

With the Philippines running short of fuel, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr told Bloomberg on Tuesday that the conflict in the Middle East might help Manila and Beijing jump-start their oil and gas project in the South China Sea.

He also said a reset of ties with China was “happening now”.

The comments swerve from the Marcos administration’s defiant policy on its maritime disputes with Beijing.

China and the Philippines have overlapping claims in the South China Sea and have clashed over control of a number of maritime features, including Scarborough and Sabina shoals.

Most recently, the Chinese navy said on Saturday that one of its Type 054A frigates was “dangerously approached” by a Philippine Navy ship on Wednesday during a “routine patrol” near Subi Reef.

Beijing and Manila accused each other of making “unsafe and unprofessional manoeuvres” in the incident.

And on Sunday, the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command conducted combat readiness patrols involving naval and air forces near Scarborough Shoal, which China calls Huangyan Island and the Philippines calls Panatag Shoal.

Without naming the Philippines, the command said it had stepped up patrols in response to “various infringement and provocative acts”.

State media reported on Friday that newly commissioned ships in the command, including the Type 052D guided-missile destroyer Loudi and Type 075 amphibious assault ship Hubei, conducted combat training recently.

The Chinese analysts said these fr

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