China has assured the Philippines it will not occupy new features or territory in the South China Sea, under a new "status quo" brokered by Manila as both sides try to strengthen their relations, according to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano also has said the Philippines is working on a "commercial deal" with China to explore and exploit oil and gas resources in disputed areas of the South China Sea with an aim to begin drilling within a year. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a waterway through which about $5 trillion worth of seaborne trade passes every year.

No expansion in disputed sea, China tells PH. (2017, August 17). Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A7.