Thailand has a prominent strategic position in Southeast Asia.which means great significance not just for Southeast Asia but also for the Asia-Pacific and worldwide recognition.Therefore,to further understand and acknowledge its foreign policy,we must ensure its realism.Between the interaction with neighboring countries,major powers,and ASEAN,it is necessary to clarify the current status of Thailand’s foreign policy towards most major powers.One way of doing this would be to sort out the historical evolution and characteristics of its foreign policy,analyze its influencing factors,and summarize the connotation and characteristics of Thailand’s major-power balanced diplomacy.Traditionally,Thailand has used the US-Thailand political alliance to balance out China’s hedging strategy and economic interactions with China.Currently,the international situation is somewhat complicated.For instance,the Russia-Ukraine conflict,not to mention the COVID-19 epidemic,have intensified the confrontation between the two major superpowers.Each country pursues a more nationalistic foreign policy because the economy is severely damaged.In order to change the status quo of international politics,every country must gain its ground back and rediscover the strategy of cooperation.The security crisis in Southeast Asia and the impact of RCEP on ASEAN’s economic development and cancellation of integration have opened up a relatively tense situation between China and the US.In addition,from the perspective of theory,the current foreign policy of great power balance of Thailand mainly focuses on the perspective of realism analysis.This paper argues that balance of power is closely related to checks and balances,and balance of power can be seen as the result of the interaction of international actors,or as a useful policy for political leaders.As a balance of power theory,it is the most common means for sovereign states to pursue security.This paper analyzes Thailand’s “Sino-US great power balanced diplomacy” policy from the perspective of state role theory,and summarizes its connotation,characteristics and influencing factors based on the historical process.The focus of this paper is how to use the theoretical analysis framework to interpret Thailand’s “Sino-US great power balanced diplomacy” policy,and how to objectively evaluate this foreign policy and limitations.From the perspective of foreign policy analysis as a country study,the main content of this paper is to analyze how Thailand handles its relations with China and the United States well and how to achieve its diplomatic goal under the circumstances acceptable to both China and the United States,so as to adapt to the needs of the international environment in the new era and ensure the security and development of Thailand.As an important member of ASEAN,it is of great importance how to use ASEAN’s role to promote balanced diplomacy on major issues.The realization of the policy in this new era of U.S.-China competition may not help Thailand maintain a long-term balance against the pressure of the two powers.To this end,the need for Thailand to adopt a more flexible foreign policy is of great importance.China’s strategic value is not only reflected in its western transportation hub with Southeast Asia and the South Pacific region,but also helps China diversify its exports and provides China with a secure energy security and maritime trade route.In addition,Thailand,located in the core location of ASEAN countries,is an important bridge for China-ASEAN cooperation and an important stop on the Maritime Silk Road.It also provides strong support for China in order to break out the strategic encirclement of the United States,hence,achieve a more stable external security environment.In order to maintain the traditional friendship between China and Thailand,the establishment of long-term security and defense strategic cooperative partnership is of great importance to China’s peaceful development.Through the evaluation of Thailand’s “Sino-US balanced diplomacy” policy,it can be seen that Thailand’s foreign policy has achieved remarkable results,but in recent years,the dilemma it is facing is becoming more and more prominent.This is mainly due to the growing competition between China and the United States.Through the prediction and analysis of the future relationship between Thailand and China and the US,it can be found that the overall relationship between Thailand and China is relatively stable and gradually improved,but there are more uncertain factors with the US,and the relationship between the two countries will be relatively distant. |