Quote Originally Posted by lastlid View Post
The problem for the Yanks or the British is who exactly would they pay to extract the oil? The Chinese or the Philippine governments? British Gas are in China already for example, in the "Chinese" part of the South China Seas and know where they stand with the Chinese in the areas they operate in, but there cant really be any developement in oil and gas exploration on the "Philippine" side of the South China Seas until it is decided who it exactly it belongs to. Too risky for the oil and gas companies or the drilling contractors or service companies.
Im no expert on the Spratley islands but it looks like part of the R.P to me!!
The Chinese are not interested in negotiating anything with any other claimants of the "disputed" territory and quite content to fire live rounds from its warships over the heads of Filipino fishermen in Western Palawan.
I dont think they would have taken these measures in the 80`s purely because the huge deterrent that the Yank bases provided here.. Most ordinary Filipino`s I have spoken to over the years loved the fact that the U.S had a large presence here then and many were shocked that they left after Pinatubo exploded..
The U.S remains the R.P`s number one ally and they will need to count on them more and more as the Chinese bullying becomes more intense because of their greed for other countries resources.