China and Philippines need a fishing deal for the South China Sea, but can they find one?
- President Rodrigo Duterte set to make a key announcement on fishing rights during State of the Nation Address on Monday
- But can either side afford to give ground without sparking a public outcry at home?
A formal agreement on fishing rights in the South China Sea would help ease tensions between Beijing and Manila, but reaching one without sparking a public outcry in either China or the Philippines might be easier said than done, according to observers.
The problem, they say, is that negotiators will find it almost impossible to agree such a deal without reinforcing or supporting the two sides’ respective, but unresolved, territorial claims.
Zhang Mingliang, an associate professor at Jinan University in Guangzhou who specialises in South China Sea studies, said that reaching a joint fishing agreement was “definitely the ideal solution”.
“But both sides face enormous [domestic] opposition to doing so … because it means that you are allowing the other side to fish in the waters you have clearly claimed, which might be unconstitutional and spark a public outcry.”
The debate comes ahead of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address on Monday, during which he is expected to announce a plan to allow Chinese vessels to fish in waters claimed by Manila.
