China and the Philippines may soon start joint coastguard patrols in the South China Sea after years of tensions over the disputed waters, according to a Philippine senator.
Erwin Tulfo, chairman of the Senate’s foreign relations committee, met Chinese ambassador Jing Quan on Monday, and said afterwards that the two countries’ coastguards were expected to sign a memorandum of agreement by the end of March.
He added that rather than “having disputes there … there will be cooperation”, such as joint patrols, search and rescue operations or environmental clean-ups. “That was what Ambassador Jing mentioned,” he said.
Advertisement
Advertisement
They said that the specific operational terms for joint patrols could determine whether they proved to be temporary or permanent.
