ABSTRACT
This chapter presents one of the most comprehensive empirical examinations of China’s use of military and paramilitary force for purposes of coercion. Using an original dataset of 203 military operations and actions associated with more than 460 coercive demands against 13 different targets between 2000 and 2020, the authors conduct statistical analyses to empirically assess the extent to which, and under what conditions, China’s coercive efforts have met with policy success or failure. The authors seek to ascertain not just the underlying policy motivations for China’s decisions to use coercive force but also to identify where and under what conditions China has actually achieved its goals using armed coercion and which conditions may make the coercion more or less likely to succeed.
