Can the Ambalat deal be a model for the South China Sea?
“The Ambalat block (Malaysia calls the area ND6 and ND7 and does not recognise the label ‘Ambalat’), located in the Celebes Sea east of Borneo, is a maritime area with overlapping claims between both countries. The agreement marks a significant step toward resolving the longstanding dispute by promoting bilateral cooperation in exploring and developing the area’s oil and gas reserves, which will also further strengthen diplomatic ties and contribute to regional peace and stability.”
“The Ambalat arrangement hence echoes China’s call for joint development in disputed areas, while also being consistent with international law. The implementation of the Ambalat joint development also adds to the corpus of references and cases to develop legal and operational templates that could be useful for future agreements on hydrocarbon exploration, shared revenue arrangements and coordinated environmental protocols in any joint development projects in the South China Sea.”
“Like the dispute in the South China Sea, the Malaysia-Indonesia dispute in the Celebes Sea also involves both the maritime (Ambalat block) and land (Pulau Sipadan and Pulau Ligitan) dimensions, and the dispute over the land was first resolved (with Malaysia’s ICJ victory) before the maritime dispute. This is also similar to China’s argument that the core of the South China Sea dispute is the territorial disputes over the maritime land features (the four ‘shas’ in China’s terminology), before the maritime dispute can be settled.”
https://www.thinkchina.sg/politics/can-ambalat-deal-be-model-south-china-sea