ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the role of military coercion as a critical element of China’s foreign policy strategy and identifies many of the most prominent examples of China using its military opportunistically for purposes of political signaling and coercion in recent decades. The chapter addresses China’s views on coercion and escalation and outlines the broad patterns of China’s employment of coercion, including military signaling, operations, and other means of non-kinetic coercion. It offers an expert analysis of when China actually uses military coercion and why, drawing on recent examples to derive a political science explanation of the theoretical assumptions behind China’s coercive behavior and a brief examination of the outcomes of coercion and the ways, means, and ends of China’s use of coercive force short of war.
