Recently China has been under withering political and legal attack for allegedly violating the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. What are the consequences if China simply gets "fed up" with the criticism and withdraws from the treaty?
China ratified the treaty in 1996. But rival claimants in the South China Sea and their supporters have alleged that China's nine-dashed line claim there is not compatible with the treaty.
Now the Philippines with tacit U.S. support has filed a complaint against China with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea established by the Convention. However, China has refused to participate in the case and is taking a propaganda pounding for not doing so.