Comparative Analysis of US and Chinese Development Assistance to the Philippines: Influence on Philippine Policy on the South China Sea | RISE Research

This paper is a comparative analysis of United States and Chinese development assistance to the Philippines and its influence on Philippine policy regarding the South China Sea. It treats foreign aid not as neutral generosity but as an instrument of influence, asking how official development assistance from two competing great powers shapes the strategic choices of a smaller state caught between them. The study compares the character and effects of US and Chinese aid, examining how each is deployed as a form of soft power and how it interacts with alliance politics and the institutional context of the recipient. The South China Sea, where the Philippines has overlapping maritime disputes with China, serves as the concrete policy arena in which the influence of aid is tested: the paper investigates whether and how assistance from Washington or Beijing correlates with shifts in Manila's posture on sovereignty and maritime claims. Grounded in international relations, international political economy and foreign-policy analysis, the paper's focus is on the mechanisms of influence, how soft power operates through aid, how alliance commitments and institutional ties condition its effect, and how a state like the Philippines navigates dependence on rival patrons. By setting US and Chinese assistance side by side in a single case, it contributes to debates about great-power competition in Southeast Asia and the agency of smaller states within it. The work was published in a venue focused on critical debates in humanities, science and global justice, reflecting its interest in the power dynamics and justice dimensions of foreign aid and influence.