Chinese Coercion, Wedge Strategies, and the U.S.-Philippine Alliance

During the Philippine presidency of Benigno Aquino III (2010–2016) and Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos, Jr. (2012), China carried out coercive diplomacy against the Philippines. Scholarship on Chinese policy focuses on the importance of Chinese sovereignty claims or Chinese domestic politics. Although the China-Philippine maritime dispute and domestic politics are important, they do not explain Chinese policy. Rather, China policy has reflected its determination to revise the regional security order, in which the United States cooperates with local powers to promote its military presence on China's maritime frontier to resist Chinese regional influence.