From Balancing to Accommodation: Understanding the Philippines’s Relations with the US and China in Post-Arbitration Period

Abstract

This article examines the nature of the Philippines' response with respect to China and the United Sates (the US) in the period of post arbitration, roughly beginning from July 12, 2016 when the Permanent Court of Arbitration (the PCA) in the Hague, issued a ruling in the case of the disputed Spratly Islands until present. The significance of the research comes from the strategy used by secondary states of international politics in dealing their relations with great powers. The Philippines seems to have been stuck between the United States and China, in particular, in the wake of post-arbitration. In the literature, majority of the study indicates that the Philippines is shifting its policy from balancing with the United States to accommodation with China. However, current alliance between the United States and the Philippines and China's ongoing activities in the South China Sea prevent the Philippines of employing exclusively accommodation with China. The article finds that although Manila and Beijing are strengthening their ties in many domains, the United States and the Philippines are expected to remain allies in the near future. Consequently, we consider that the Philippines' policy of accommodation with China is just a complementary policy rather than an alternative approach.