Beyond The Ideology: Case Study On Sino-Thai Relations During The Latter Period Of The Cultural Revolution

The Chinese Cultural Revolution lasted from 1966 to 1976 whose impact to the whole country was very significant. Compared to the other political dimensions, the achievement in foreign relations of China was relatively outstanding. This paper tries to explore the reason of this issue by the case study of Sino-Thai relations in the latter period of the Cultural Revolution.The prominent diplomatic achievements during the Cultural Revolution were due to the authoritarian political system. Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai were wielding the diplomatic scepter. It is believed that their decision-making in the diplomacy field was basically rational and national interests based. They can establish foreign relations with many capitalist countries beyond ideology. The establishment of Sino-Thai diplomatic relation during the latter period of Cultural Revolution was one of the examples. After analyzing Sino-Thai diplomatic relation during the latter period of Cultural Revolution, we can make a conclusion that diplomacy is a relatively independent field. In the countries of authoritarian political system, elites in the diplomatic field control the decision-making, especially when in the domestic political crisis, they may be able to make faster decisions on diplomacy. The concepts of these top elites, how they judge the international situation, their assessment on the national interest and other diplomatic principles, and so on, will directly affect foreign policy of authoritarian government.