In dealing with international crises, China advocated the claims shifted from “not giving an inch of land” in the 1960s to “shelving disputes” in the 1990s, and the “normalcy” strategy in the 21st century. What kind of strategic behavior model has China formed? This paper studies this kind of foreign policy from the cognitive perspective in international politics and applies the framework to analyze and interpret it according to the theory of cognition and brinkmanship. The result of this research indicates that China's normalcy strategy is a kind of strategic coercion - in the process of brinkmanship crisis going on. China imposes misperceptions upon the other party involved in the crisis, and in the opponent's time interval from “miscalculation” to “re-estimation.” Then China demonstrates its strength while transmitting perceptions, forcing its opponent to accept China's solution, thereby resolving international disputes and preventing further escalation of the crisis. Although China's strategic coercion behaviour can resolve international disputes, it needs to be aware that such behaviours may cause dissatisfaction from the other party.