Chinas Staatskunst: Kooperation und Zwang – Chinas Strategie zur Spaltung der US-Allianzen in Asien-Pazifik und Europa

Abstract China combines offers of cooperation with coercive measures to influence the politics of states in the Asia-Pacific region. While the former primarily involve the creation of economic incentives, the latter include, among other things, diplomatic pressure, economic sanctions, and grey-zone as well as military operations. Drawing on balance of power theory and wedge strategies, this article demonstrates how China employs coercive measures to divide countervailing coalitions whenever its core interests are threatened. Given the increasing linkages between the Asia-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions, European states are also likely to become targets of such Chinese statecraft in the near future.