January 26, 2015
China's Tailored Coercion and Its Rivals' Actions and Responses: What the Numbers Tell Us
The fifth paper in the Maritime Strategy Series, by Dr. Christopher Yung and Patrick McNulty, is a groundbreaking data-driven look at how the six claimants of features in the South China Sea have advanced and defended their claims from 1995 to 2014. During several years of research conducted at the National Defense University, the authors constructed a custom-built database of open-source reporting on actions taken in the South China Sea by each claimant, classified them into a detailed typology of different tactics, and drew conclusions from the resulting data. Broadly speaking, the research concludes that China has been the most active player, leading the field in use of all tactics save legal measures, and especially so in military and paramilitary actions. But activities by other claimants including the Philippines and Taiwan are also of note, providing a richer picture of the disputes. These data provide one of the only public sources for numerical comparison of various claimants’ actions, and Yung and McNulty’s analysis thus provides a crucial basis for further study of this fraught maritime zone.
Dr. Christopher Yung is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University. At the time of writing, Patrick McNulty was a research analyst at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University.
Authors
-
Patrick McNulty
-
Dr. Christopher Yung
More from CNAS
-
How China and the U.S. Are Competing for Young Minds in Southeast Asia
Business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month warned that China has overtaken the United States in the development of artificial intelligence and other emer...
By Kristine Lee
-
China's Artificial Islands Are Bigger (And a Bigger Deal) Than You Think
Surely you have heard the news — China has been dredging up coral reefs and creating artificial islands in the South China Sea with the purpose of enforcing their claims...
By CDR Thomas Shugart, USN
-
Defense / Indo-Pacific Security
Beijing's Go Big or Go Home Moment in the South China SeaChina is preparing for its go or go home moment in the South China Sea and it appears they have chosen the right time to make a play for regional and, ultimately, global domin...
By Jerry Hendrix
-
Defense / Indo-Pacific Security
Parting the South China SeaJuly 12, 2016, marked a turning point in the long-standing disputes over the South China Sea. After more than three years of proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration,...
By Mira Rapp-Hooper