ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on joint cooperation/development in disputed waters. The Premier was quoted in 1984 as having told some American guests that in dealing with some international territorial disputes, the issue of sovereignty can be avoided and joint exploitation can be developed; that a new way must be found in accordance with reality to solve such issues. In the same year, Premier Deng proposed at a meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Central Party Committee of the CCP that shelving territorial disputes and developing joint exploitation be Chinas official approach in handling conflicts over the islands in the South China Sea. The Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) is the first undertaking to be conceptualized as a joint cooperation/development venture participated in by the Philippines. It was to be in disputed waters in the South China Sea. The JMSU is a Philippines initiative but not a government-to-government arrangement.
