The questions of this paper are how a rising power shows its prowess, how the interactions and conflicts of great powers affect diplomatic behaviors of small powers, how the international and domestic factors impact on the stance of the state, and how small states strike a balance between great powers. The findings are below. China is a revisionist power that uses coercive diplomacy to solve maritime sovereignty disputes with neighboring countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea conflicts. These two countries have been hedging against China by strengthening their strategic ties with the U.S.. For Taiwan, political pressures from rapprochement or unification with China have propelled Taiwan to choose the strategy of soft-balancing and the conflicts between the U.S. and China in the South China Sea have transformed Taiwan's grand strategy by more bandwagoning with America. This strategy is more likely to consolidate Taiwan's strategic security and relative gains in the triangular relations between the U.S., China and Taiwan.