Sheep Guts says
They must continue searching the South China Sea they don't have enough evidence to not stop.
What evidence is there of it being there?
The absolutely only thing that says it is possibly at the location of its last call is that it was once at that location - that is it, absolutely nothing else indicates it is there.
The evidence that it isn't there is extreme though - including the fact that they have had 14 countries with Ships, Planes and Satellites searching this very tiny and unbelievably shallow area for 8 days without finding even a single seat cushion.
That alone should scream "uhm, it probably isn't here guys" without even having to go into all the physical and witness reports indicating it turned West.