Philippines, China: Pursuing a Rocky Partnership in the South China Sea

China and the Philippines are slowly moving forward on a bilateral arrangement regarding the South China Sea, though they continue to face obstacles. On March 2, a presidential spokesman for the Philippines said the country has identified two sites for potential joint oil and natural gas exploration with China. This development comes in the aftermath of the countries' second bilateral maritime consultation in mid-February. At that meeting, both sides expressed their desire to move forward with joint mechanisms in the areas of fisheries, energy and marine scientific research, and they established a technical working group to tackle the energy issue....