this is affecting economic activity. ♪ >> you're watching al jazeera these let-up stories. republican kevin mccarthy has again lost in the sixth round of voting in his bid to become speaker of the u.s. house representatives come about 20 hardliners are refusing to support him.

we report from capitol hill. >> there has been some progress, unfortunate for kevin mccarthy has been negative progress, yesterday he had 19 votes against him. by the end of the day it was 20, now it is 21, and he is significantly far from the 218 votes he needs to become elected speaker. the republican party in disarray right now. they want to governor -- govern that they cannot get other way enough to take the first step. >> he spoke about the impact of israeli national security minister incursion into the mosque compound. he was accompanied by ambassadors from several arab and muslim nations. palestinians are outraged. israel's new government has until -- unveiled plans to overhaul the justice system that will significantly weaken the supreme court. china has been accused of giving an inaccurate picture of the extent of the covid-19 outbreak. top scientists have given information to u.n. officials,

but the who says it is upper -- underrepresented account. against the arrest of local government of luis fernando, he is charged of leading a coup and --in 2019. charges he denies. in peru, supporters of the former president, renewed protests after -- the former president was ousted and detained after he tried to illegally dissolve congress last month. those of the headlines, the news continues here on al jazeera that is after "inside story." ♪

laura: philippine president is in china, to improve economic and clinical ties with beijing. china is hoping to woo him away from washington. what is at stake with this trip? this is "inside story." ♪ laura: hello there and welcome to the program. the philippines and china have had a mixed relationship over the years. there at a stage where both sides are looking to shape. his visit to beijing. he has historically been a close ally of the u.s.. that relationship cooled somewhat after the last philippine relationship --

president forged closer ties with beijing. china is the philippine's most important trading partner. they have significant differences such as beijing's activity in the disputed south china sea. china for his part says the visit will focus on the issues of regional and international issues of concern. he says he is looking for to increasing economic cooperation. >> the partnership that we have made, in the next two years, will be partnerships that strengthen all of our economies so that we are able to face the challenges. and the [indiscernible] in the next few years. laura: our correspondent is in beijing, she will tell us what each sides of any get out of

this trip. >> his three-day trip to china, the first of two toy 23, included meeting -- 2023, included meeting leaders. it is been a rocky relationship for these two countries for the past few years. both sides say this visit marks a new chapter in the bilateral relationship. they have pledged to increase operation in a variety of areas, economic trade, technology, infrastructure, and tourism. much is at stake. this visit comes admitted and if a structure -- amid an infrastructure and energy crisis in the philippines. for beijing, he is a scrooge -- huge strategic importance, they are the closest to taiwan that beijing sees a rogue chinese

territory. beijing is working to do whatever i can to minimize washington's influence in the region. there are two major points of disagreement that threaten to derail the ties, the south china sea. china claims most of the territory, despite an international court said it belonged to the philippines. china has continued to build artificial islands in the region. chinese ships have swarmed and intimidated philippine fishing boats. in november u.s. vice president visited him and asked to expand military presence in the country this has a -- angered beijing let's take a closer look at the minute time dispute that she mentioned.

claim -- china claims the entire south china sea as the territory waters, six other countries dispute this. in 2016 the hague ruled in favor of the philippines. they took legal action against china accusing it of unlawfully claiming lands and waters around the islands, there is estimated to have trillions of dollars worth of oil and gas under its seabed. laura: let's bring in our guests. in beijing, andy mok senior research fellow for the center for china and globalization. marites vitug who wrote rock solid: how the philippines won its maritime case against china. and ei sun oh. senior director of the singapore institute of international affairs. a warm welcome to all of you. andy, let's start with you,

presidency -- present she -- zxi says he is right to handle maritime issues in a friendly and -- andy: i think clearly as in so many complex issues, the devil is in the details. that being said, i think both sides are very ready to take this bilateral relationship to the next level. as president marcos has said, he wants to go to a higher gear. the chinese side sees this as hopefully ushering in a golden era of china philippines relations. i think ideally any outstanding issues, any areas that need to be further clarified, should be worked out as a part of that.

laura: how does marcos want to take the relationship to the next level? how do they deal with the dispute? marites: i think he is trying to balance the relationship of the philippines between china and the u.s.. this is a pendulum swung, when the former president was in office for the past six years. it went towards china. now marcos is trying to reach out to both china and the u.s.. he has already said, he has given strong statement saying the philippines will not give up an inch of its territory. without naming china. that was a strong message in july when he assumed the presidency. i think he is trying to balance the relations between the two powers. laura: ei sun oh how difficult

of a line is this for marcos to tread? between unwanted claims the south china chief, but also wanting -- south china sea, but also wanting investment. ei: they want to balance between the united states and china. at the same time they're trying to balance on the one end the territorial dispute with china on the south china sea. or is it the west lapine c on the -- philippine sea on the other hand. also trying to attract chinese investment into the philippines, in a sense in large the philippine trade with china. indeed it is a very delicate islands. -- balance. it is the same dilemma that a

number of the liberal south east asia nations are facing nowadays. on the one hand they have territorial disputes with china. on the other hand they welcome chinese investments and trade. laura: when president xi says he wants to handle these maritime issues in a friendly manner, what does that mean? right now you have a situation in the south china sea where chinese bows are caressing fishermen, your salve chinese coast guard -- are -- boats are harassing fishermen, we also have chinese coast guard. what will change the tone talk about the south china sea? >> i think it is the root cause these issues are in dispute that leads to these misunderstandings and missed perceptions as well.

it is being exacerbated by external parties looking to drive a wedge between china philippine relations. laura: which parties? andy: certainly western media, i think is one. other countries like the united states. however, i do think that the opportunity for the philippines here, i believe president marcos phrased it, friend to all, and me to none. it is -- enemy to none. it is not a choice choosing between the u.s. and china. trainer purely says it does not see the world in these -- china repeatedly said it does not see the world in cold wor -- war

binary terms. the devil is in the details. laura: when andy says the western media is an external factor looking to drive a wedge between the philippines and china, do you agree with that? marites: i don't think so, in 2016 rather the philippines one the international tribunal -- won the international tribunal. it was very clear how the case was decided. china's 9-9 claim has no historical basis. it's a point that china refuses to recognize and repeatedly said they would not recognize this international decision. in the meantime, the philippines and china are doing their six year rule have arrived at certain verbal agreement to allow filipinos to fish.

in an area that is part of the lapine -- philippine's exclusive economic zone. and not to build a claim on occupied islands. some agreements have been made. your be best for marcos, really, is in the -- i think it would be best, for marcos, is in the oil and gas expiration. philippines faces an energy crisis in the next three to five years. they will need to survey and drill in the contested area part of the philippines economic zone . china is disputing that. laura: that is a key issue in the energy crisis the whole world is facing. do you think the philippines will be able to dig for explore for oil and gas in the contested area? ei: typically southeast asian

countries when we talk about explorations of oil and gas we will do it in conjunction with a number of very established oil and gas conglomerates in the world. shell, and someone -- so on. in other countries tend to do so , for example malaysia and vietnam tried to do so, china was not very happy. typically they would interfere. it remains to be seen to what extent, after this visit by marcos junior, with china still interfere with philippine's oil and gas expiration. or on the other hand come with some sort of deal be made between china and the philippines such that it would be the chinese oil and gas conglomerates which would do those collaborations with the

filipino counterparts. exporting the oil and gas. i would be interesting -- interested to see if such a president would be made. laura: with the except that, a chinese conglomerate leading the way? marites: there have been negotiations for many years but they reached a dead end. according to the philippine constitutions, if they partner with the chinese company, the company would have to acknowledge philippine sovereign rights over the oil and gas. this reach a dead-end. china refused to sign the proposed oil and gas development in the philippines because that precise provision, or even acknowledge philippine sovereign rights over the area. that is a dead-end.

i do not know how marcos will proceed. malaysia, indonesia, are able to drill in contested areas using -- malaysia through the coast guard, same with indonesia. they are able to do this without china as a partner. laura: do you think that xi is ready to allow the philippines to do this without china as a partner? andy: i think we have to see. this, at its heart is a diplomatic dilemma. it can only be solved with diplomatic ingenuity and creativity. we have seen this kind of ingenuity and creativity before. look at the cornerstone of the china u.s. relationship.

there was a disagreement on taiwan, yet a formulation was found to let the relationship move forward. again, we can see it as a dilemma, but hopefully a creative breakthrough can be achieved. letting both sides derive benefit from this situation. laura: i am interested to know, why is it since the 2016 ruling, why the -- by the u.n. backed ruling in the hague, china has not changed its behavior in the south china sea. they declared that china's interest is invalid. they continue to build on islands and continue to post ships. why not respect this ruling? andy: i think we all know, countries have various reasons

for disagreeing or not accepting these multilateral rulings. wto is a great example of that. i think again, the devil is in the details. we'll have to see what will happen from here. i think it is clear. four china, has its reasons for saying, we do not think this is an appropriate ruling. we are not ready to abide by. i do not know what the future will hold. again, think the most practical solution is a diplomatic one. laura: you wrote a book about how the philippines have won the maritime case against china. they have not been able to take action with that win. why not? marites: during the last six years, they did not use the

victory of the philippines to renegotiate china. setting aside, a piece of trash that belongs to the been. what is moving china investment and aid, to the philippines. now we will see with president marcos if he has said, the ruling is one of the pillars of the philippine foreign policy. let's see how far he is willing to assert the victory and how far he has willing to negotiate or displease china and it comes to oil and gas. it's can it be his biggest task, in his relationship with china. laura: oil and gas is one main part of the fight over the south china sea. another is fishing grounds.

there is a huge amount of shipping that goes through it. how dangerous is it to navigate these waters admitted these contesting claims? >> at the moment you will see south china sea has been the center of one of the busiest, shall we say concentration of shipping routes in the world. so far, most of the ships, destined for chinese ports. because the chinese would not interfere with them. of course, a lot of other countries, for example the united states. if those ships are destined for eventually the united states, let's say canada and so on. if the united states are not on good terms with china, of course they are worried about this permanent fixture of china in the south china sea.

is up to them, and a sense if it will hinder the shipping that is ultimately destined for the united states. laura: we saw the u.s. vice president visit the philippines in november. she went to next to the contested -- an area that is next to the contested. islands. how provocative is that for beijing? andy: certainly we have seen, an increase in the level of provocation escalations by the united states. i think overall, compared to pelosi's visit to taiwan, and other provocations i would not put in that category. certainly, i think it does add to increasing tensions in the region. of course, think the big issue is edca or the extended defense

cooperation agreement. what happens, that is of course related to the vice president's visit. clearly this is a complex relationship. i think there is a lot of moving parts. certainly, this, the u.s. words and deeds are an important part of this. laura: i wanted marites vitug to bring up the story of the naval ship the philippines ran aground in this area back to 1999 to lay claim to a reef. our soldiers are still on it? his -- if it is attacked, because it is still in commission coming could theoretically call on the u.s. to protect it. marites: actually that is one of the discussion points now in the philippines. when the u.s. -- there is a

mutual defense treaty with the u.s.. the u.s. is already set, in case of -- said, in the case of tension in the south china sea where the philippines is harmed they will come to the aid of the philippines. that has been made clear during president biden's time and during president trump's time. the philippines want to avoid any conflict in the west philippine seat that is part of the south china sea. that is why the philippine navy continues to resupply the ship, despite its status. china does not want to philippines to stand -- send construction material. that is one of the red lines. the philippines is only able to supply food and water, but not construction material.

again, i do not know how long this will last and what new arrangement can marcos come up in his talks with china. laura: there are a number of flashpoints. i wonder how they will play out given the new relationship marcos and xi are hoping to build. ei: the marcos family is long-running. very cordial relationship with china. i recall seeing videos of them singing various chinese songs and so on. nowadays, of course, a lot of southeast asian countries, philippines included an malaysia as well, we are not the best of economic shapes. unfortunately the united states and many other western countries are not in a position, or unwilling to invest and

trademark with us. in fact -- trade more with us. in fact, the united states calling on its invest -- existing investors overseas to relocate back to the united states. that, it put us in very difficult position. on the one hand a number of southeast asian countries, would welcome some of this u.s. freedom of navigation over some parts of south china sea. on the other hand, that would antagonize china. the united states is not investing more in the region. these countries we need to pivot to china in terms of trade and investment. laura: very interesting relationship to keep an eye on indeed. thank you to all of our guests. andy mok, marites vitug, ei sun

oh. thank you for watching. for further discussion please go to our facebook page. you can join the conversation on twitter. the handle is @ajinsidestory. from me and the entire team, it is bye for now. ♪

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