The Aquino administration's balancing policy against an emergent China: Its domestic and external dimensions

• Main Author: De Castro, Renato Cruz
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Subjects: Balance of power; Philippines > Foreign relations > China; China > Foreign relations > Philippines; Philippines > Foreign relations > United States; United States > Foreign relations > Philippines; Philippine Sea > Boundaries > South China Sea; South China Sea > Boundaries > Philippine Sea; International Relations; Political Science
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/555
• Institution: De La Salle University

This article examines why and how small powers balance big powers. One such small power is the Philippines, which-despite its military weakness- applies a balancing policy on an emergent China relative to the South China Sea imbroglio. Largely, this balancing policy is the upshot of three developments: a) the present Aquino administration's efforts to disassociate itself from the previous Arroyo administration's policy of equi-balancing China and the US; b) China's heavy-handed behaviour in the South China Sea dispute; and c) the willingness of the US to assist the Philippines in constraining an assertive China. In conclusion, the article offers two reasons why this balancing policy is risky and difficult. First, the Philippines needs time and resources to develop the military capability to back its territorial claim in the South China Sea; and second, the US, though supportive of the Philippine position, is wary of triggering a full-blown geo-strategic rivalry with China. © Pacific Affairs. All rights reserved.