ABSTRACT
The South China Sea is rich in non-living resource reserves, both renewable and non-renewable, existing in large quantities. The desire for these non-living resources has become one of the main reasons behind territorial dispute in the South China Sea, which has, in turn, also led to clashes among the disputing States especially, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Hence, governance of the non-living resources has become essential in trying to prevent such incidents. With this backdrop, this chapter tries to explain the dilemma of governing the non-living resources in the South China Sea. In doing so, in addition to examining the legal basis for the governance of non-living resources, it also analyses the States’ practices in the exploration of non-living resources by evaluating the existing bilateral agreements.
