China’s Strategy and Approach to the South China Sea in 2025

A China Coast Guard ship moored beside a shipyard

Source: Linfeng Li via Unsplash

Chapter of the Global Maritime Security Report 2025-2026 for the Huayang Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, written by Yang Li, Executive Director, Institute for China-Europe Studies

November 13, 2026

Please access this piece at Huayang Center via:
https://huayangocean.com/researchlist/2478.html

Yang Li analyses China’s 2025-2026 posture as strategic patience rather than escalation. Beijing relies on the China Coast Guard (CCG) to maintain a persistent presence around flashpoints such as Huangyan Dao (Scarborough Shoal), reinforcing its claims through baselines, nature reserves. Meanwhile, China has maintained its position of rejecting the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award. In managing disputes, China continues to pair bilateral handling of specific disputes with ASEAN negotiations on COC.