The United States’ Strategy of Containing China through the Philippines in the China–U.S. Game over the South China Sea

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_108How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Sino–U.S. Competition; Philippines; South China Sea Rivalry; Offshore Balancing; Strategic Autonomy

Abstract

This study focuses on the strategic competition between China and the United States in the South China Sea. The author analyzes in depth how Washington employs the Philippines to contain China in the South China Sea. The South China Sea is a unique geopolitical entity and has become the core area of Sino–U.S. confrontation. By strengthening the U.S.–Philippines security cooperation, increasing the scale of joint military exercises, and promoting the South China Sea arbitration, Washington successfully turned the Philippines into a “forward pivot” for containing China at relatively low cost. In circumstances of “security reliance on the United States and economic dependence on China,” the Philippines follows a strategy of “high-profile confrontation and limited cooperation.” On the one hand, the Philippines, upholding its security cooperation with the United States, enhances its bargaining power vis-à-vis China; on the other, it maintains its economic dependence on China and displays only limited strategic autonomy. Despite only partially aligned strategic interests, enhanced U.S.-Philippines cooperation heightened tensions in the South China Sea and further internationalized the disputes between China and ASEAN nations. The oscillation of the Philippines’ policy exposes the dilemma faced by small states caught between big powers.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Zhicheng Duan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/15
TI  - The United States’ Strategy of Containing China through the Philippines in the China–U.S. Game over the South China Sea
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1051
EP  - 1062
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_108
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_108
ID  - Duan2026
ER  -