A Realistic Diplomacy In The Cold War Pattern-New Research Of The History Of Sino-French Relations(1949-1969)

For a long time, the study of Sino-French relations during the cold war usually focused on the issue of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France in 1964. However, lack of the research about the long period of Sino-French relations, it’s difficult to understand the development process, which leads to generally overestimate the significance of Sino-French realistic diplomacy. The purpose of this doctoral dissertation is to discuss, in the international pattern of the Cold war, China and France-the inferior powers in the different camps - their realistic efforts to restore bilateral relations have been influenced by the ideology, the interests of the group and the policies of the United States and the Soviet Union.Based on the study of the archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French Communist Party, the French National Assembly, and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this dissertation chronologically elaborates the development of the Sino-French relationship in the four parts:The first part is the period of the confrontation (1949-1953), which introduces that New China and France were in the opposite positions because of the first Indochinese War and the Korean War. At this stage, the political relations between China and France were interrupted, and the economic relations were reduced greatly due to the embargo policy. However, the Sino-French exchanges were not completely cut off, because the French Communist Party became the main link of the bilateral relations. Relying on the economic Conference in Moscow, the enterprises controlled by the French Communist Party and the Chinese Import & Export Company signed a barter contract; and the French-China Friendship Association established by the FCP was responsible for maintaining the non-governmental cultural exchanges. In the face of the leading role of the FCP in the Sino-French relations, the French government, on the one hand, gave some support to the FCP, which reflects the realistic aspects of its policy on China, but on the other hand, the French government encouraged the enterprises who were not controlled by the French Communist Party to trade with China directly, which reflects the influence of the ideology. In addition, through their policies on the Indochinese war, we could know about the strategic division of the two camps in Asia and their internal relations.The second part is the period of the transition of the bilateral relations (1954-1958). In order to gain the restoration of peace in the Indochina, the Chinese delegation and the French delegation contacted and cooperated during the Geneva Conference, and both parts tried to make use of the contradictions in the other camp to achieve their own purposes. After the Geneva Conference of the contact, the relations between the two countries were improved, and several channels of communication were established. But the improvement of their bilateral relations was limited due to the affects by the American policies and the problems of Taiwan. The French government could not solve the political problems with China, but the economic and cultural exchanges started to develop. In addition, with the status and the influence of the Chinese Communist Party improved in the international communist movement, the relation between the CCP and the FCP had a great development. In the situation improved of the Sino-French relations, the other French political parties also began to contact with China, but Chinese still trusted and valued the information and the advices were provided by the FCP. Therefore, whether in France or China, the realistic efforts to adjust the relations between the two countries were continued to be heavily influenced by the ideology and the interests of the group.The third part is about the period of the establishment of the diplomatic relations (1959-1964). In the beginning when Charles de Gaulle came back to the political forum, the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France was not achieved immediately. Due to challenging the ideological leadership in the international communist movement with Soviet Union at that time, China paid attention to the ideological factors in the foreign policies. It actively supported the Algeria liberation movement and the class conflict of the FCP against the regime of De Gaulle. Because of China’s Algeria policies, the intention of French statesmen to recognize China was diminished. And the Sino-French cultural activities were greatly reduced. However, in the 1961-1962, because of the increasing trend of the dispute between Soviet Union and China, the latter adjusted its foreign policies and its attitude to the De Gaulle’s government. During the Geneva conference about the problems of Laos, China gained the opportunity to contact the French government. In 1963, the both governments began to consider spontaneously the problem of the establishment of the diplomatic relations. After the negotiation, they established the diplomatic relations, which sparked international and domestic societies. Although the public opinion in many media supported establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries, the French allies still were full of worries without following the French pace.The fourth part is the period of adjustment (1964-1969). After the establishment of the diplomatic relations, the two countries develop the exchanges and cooperation in all aspects including the political, economic, cultural domain and scored achievements, but there were also differences and difficulties in the exchanges between the two sides. Especially Chinese increasingly aggressive and tough foreign policies led to the French discontent. When the Chinese Cultural Revolution broke out, international students and diplomats in France were withdrawn and the cultural relations were interrupt. And the Sino-French relations were affected by the strong ideology of the Chinese people. In addition, during the "May storm", because the public opinions in the Chinese newspapers for the support of the French student’s movement and highly critical of the De Gaulle’s administration, which caused the French discontent, the relations between the two sides was worse. However, the governments of the two countries were aware of the importance and the necessity of maintaining the relationship between France and China. Through the efforts of both sides, the normal diplomatic relations were retorted and set the tone for the development of friendly relations between China and France in the 70’s.The conclusion mainly talks about three issues. The first is the analysis about the Sino-French realistic diplomacies influenced and restricted by the long-term impact of ideology and the policies of United States and Soviet Union in the pattern of the Cold War, which stressed that the idealistic diplomatic goals should be based on its own essential strength. Secondly, by a brief comparison of the internal relations of the two camps by the examples of China and France, this dissention analyses the similarities and differences from the two camps. Finally, the characteristics and functions of the people’s diplomacy in the Sino-French relations are made the summary. Through this paper, you can see the immediate results of the establishment of Sino-French diplomatic relations did not shake the bipolar structure of United States and Soviet Union, and also did not make the other western countries followed the French pace immediately. So its significance is limited. But the impact of Sino French diplomatic relations is a long-term influence, which lead to Sino-French friendly cooperation and exchanges from the Pompidou administration to today.