Expert says joint explorations could be a legal trap

MANILA-As seabed resources are often seen as the source of conflicts in disputed waters, joint exploration and development between the disputing countries is often proposed as a win-win solution or at least a confidence-building measure.

However, Dr. Yoichiro Sato of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, asserts that actual practices in South and East China Seas reveal that joint exploration and development proposals are not only economically motivated, but also made with intentions to set a legal precedence to advance the country’s claim to the disputed water. As such, they too are the manifestations of the conflicts, rather than solutions to the conflicts.

Earlier, China has sought a joint exploration with the Philippines as “a practical approach in resolving the maritime dispute”. But the Philippines has taken a guarded approach to the proposal as a joint exploration on the contested waters could just be a legal and diplomatic trap.

Sato will speak at a roundtable discussion organized by the Angara Centre for Law and Economics titled "What Is to Be Done? Resolving Maritime Disputes in Southeast Asia" on December 5 at the Marriott Hotel, Resorts World Manila.

Former Senator Edgardo J. Angara, who recently ended two decades of notable service as a Philippine legislator, will serve as keynote speaker in the forum. A former UP president, Angara led the creation of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea (UP-IMLOS), a highly specialized academic research institution based in the UP Law Center devoted to maritime affairs.

Other featured speakers include Donald Emmerson of Stanford University, Shen Dingli of Fudan University in China, Ian Storey of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, and Professor Harry Roque of the University of the Philippines.

The forum and roundtable discussions will be moderated by Prof. John Nye of George Mason University, Executive Director of the Angara Centre.

The event is sponsored by Asia United Bank.