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On December 3, 2021, two opposite trains drove out as China and Laos domestic stations. An epoch-making day has arrived, and the Lao people has finally found a way to go abroad, and China-Laos relations have taken a new level.
But you should know that decades ago, Laos even helped Vietnam deal with China. In just a few decades, why has Laos’ attitude changed so stunningly?
0 China and Laos have a lot of history. In ancient times, Laos, located in , , the Indochina Peninsula, was also considered to be in the Chinese cultural circle.
With the arrival of European colonists, Laos gradually moved away from China and became a colony, and normal exchanges between the two countries were almost cut off.
But China, which is also influenced by colonialism, often provides a helping hand in the process of the Lao people's resistance to the French colonists and the Japanese invaders.
As a neighboring country with a belt of water, China provided various assistance to Laos at the beginning of its independence.
1961 On April 25, although Laos was still a kingdom at this time, China established diplomatic relations with Laos.
However, with the development of the economy, the domestic revolutionary forces in Laos began to rise. On December 2, 1975, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party came to power and the Lao People's Democratic Republic was founded. Laos has thus become an socialist country .
Originally, the relationship between China and Laos was pretty good. Now the revolutionary party with common belief has become the leader of Laos, and the relationship between the two countries has reached a higher level.
Due to the blockade and suppression of socialism by Western countries at that time, coupled with the Cold War between the two major camps, it was at its peak. Laos didn't even think about it and just stuck in socialist camp .
The socialist camp at that time had two main countries, namely China and the Soviet Union. But for Laos, there is also a "little overlord" in the socialist region next to it, Vietnam.
So how to handle the relationship with these three countries has become the top priority of Laos' diplomacy.
In order to get rid of becoming a victim of the game between major powers, Laos was very smart in the early days and engaged in equal-distance diplomacy in the socialist camp, that is, they maintained similar relationships with China, Vietnam and the Soviet Union.
At this stage, the relationship between Laos and my country gradually heated up and began to develop steadily.
Due to special historical reasons at that time, the relationship between China and the Soviet Union was not very good. Therefore, some countries in the socialist camp were afraid of the Soviet Union and followed the trend to hostile China.
But Laos did not do that. Although the Soviet Union is stronger, China is a neighboring country with such a long history, so Laos has always hoped to reconcile the relationship between China and the Soviet Union.
Because China began to gradually restore normal diplomatic relations with Western countries at that time, this was untolerable in the eyes of some socialist countries, but Laos still stood on China's side.
When other countries criticize China, although Laos did not express fierce opinions in person, it has been silently safeguarding the Communist Party of China in private and trying to maintain the unity of the socialist camp.
The Lao people at this time seemed that China and Laos not only belong to the socialist camp, nor were they just a neighbor, but also had a long history of jointly resisting colonial relations.
During the French colonial period, the focus of the two countries' exchanges was political exchanges, but there were some economic and trade relations. However, at this time, the economic and trade relations were mainly based on China's free aid.
Laos' infrastructure is improved, but Laos' economy has not had much impact.
Therefore, in terms of Laos' economic development needs, even though China and Laos had a deep friendship in the past, their relationship soon encountered a crisis.
In 1978, it was basically confirmed that diplomatic relations were established between China and the United States. Moreover, China also began the process of reform and opening up. These things are mixed together, and the relationship between China and the Soviet Union is even more subtle.
Although Vietnam received a lot of support from our country during the war, it had just been unified by Vietnam. In the Sino-Soviet side selection station, Vietnam followed directly behind the Soviet Union.
With the death of Ho Chi Minh , Vietnam's policy toward China has taken a sharp decline. In addition, when Sino-US relations were normalized at that time, Vietnam regarded normal exchanges between China and the United States as China's betrayal of him, so hostility towards China continued to rise.
And because it defeated the US imperial examination, its self-confidence was extremely strong. In the Indochina Peninsula at that time, few countries were rivals of the Vietnamese army, so they started regional hegemony in the Indochina Peninsula.
Vietnam not only sent troops to directly occupy Cambodia , but also made trouble with China. The Vietnamese not only covet many islands in the South my country Sea , but also continue to invade my country's southwestern border. Crossing the border many times has killed and injured our military and civilians.
In 1979, China and the United States officially established diplomatic relations, and this year, our country decided to give Vietnam some colors.
This is a critical period of reform and opening up. If China cannot have a stable external environment, everything will be useless.
At that time, the whole world could see that there must be a war between China and Vietnam, and Laos was no exception. Both countries were once friends, but Laos firmly chose to follow Vietnam to fight against China this time.
is the first factor of the Soviet Union. Although the Soviet Union is far away from Laos, it is a superpower after all, and it is better than China at that time in terms of technology, economy, etc.
Soviet people's life
Although the Soviets did not directly aid Laos, the Soviet Union also achieved the goal of aiding Laos through aid to Vietnam.
At that time, Laos also wanted to develop its economy as socialist rule gradually stabilized.
So after weighing the trade-offs, Lao people still think they can follow Vietnam. Because in this way, you can get various aid from the Soviet Union through Vietnam.
and compared with the friendship between China and Laos during the revolutionary period. The relationship between Laos and Vietnam, which are also on the Indochina Peninsula, can be said to be more intimate.
Because both countries have become French colonies in history and their common enemies have established a very close friendship between their party and the army.
Moreover, Vietnam is right next to Laos, and is very tough in engaging in regional hegemony, and has invaded Cambodia.
As a friendly and peaceful country, China will naturally not engage in invasion of other countries.
is exactly what the saying in " Let the Bullets Fly ": "Will good people be pointed at by guns?" Laos thought to himself that if he didn't follow Vietnam, he might become the next Cambodia and his economy would not develop well.
And following Vietnam, not only can it provide economic assistance to achieve economic development, but China should not invade itself because of this.
Therefore, the Lao government chose a firm strategy of "friendly Vietnam, relying on the Soviet Union and anti-China".
In July 1978, the Lao government said very arrogantly that China did not need to be a representative in Laos, which means that the Chinese Embassy in Laos would be expelled.
This is already a very serious diplomatic crisis in peacetime. But that's not the end. In early 1979, with China launching a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, . What Laos does is really done is basically done.
First of all, under the banner of avoiding the spread of war, Laos made China withdraw all aid projects in Laos. Even Xinhua News Agency was driven out, completely demanding that China stop all activities in Laos.
By mid-1980, the situation worsened. Ambassadors of the two countries were recalled one after another. The diplomatic relations between the two countries were almost completely broken.
In the face of real interests, Laos completely turned to Vietnam.Without any hostile acts against Laos, Laos directly regards China as its enemy, and even openly declares that Laos' construction and economic development do not require any help from China.
But no matter how happy it was at that time, Laos still couldn't escape an iron law in the world, that is, the law of true fragrance.
self-defense counterattack against Vietnam was soon over. Although it entered another ten-year war, it was far less intense than when counterattack against .
Vietnam has gradually retreated from Cambodia, and the Indochina Peninsula has gradually returned to peace. So Laos also began to reexamine its relationship with China.
In 1985, the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Laos, which was clamoring to cut off relations with China, invited China to attend relevant celebration meetings for the first time.
At the meeting, Lao leaders publicly stated that they would no longer target China and were willing to actively promote the normalization of China-Laos relations, and expressed regret for Laos' attitude.
Laos State Council
1 At the Lao People's Revolutionary Party meeting held in November 1986, Laos announced that it would restore and improve relations with China.
China has always been a peace-loving country. Since Laos has put forward an olive branch, my country has chosen to resolve its past grudges with Laos for the sake of fighting side by side.
By the end of 1986, leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and Laos formally met and exchanged views on how to normalize the relationship between the two countries.
After many talks, in October 1989, China-Laos relations finally normalized.
After the 21st century, the relationship between China and Laos became closer. At this time, the diplomatic relations between the two countries were no longer just the political aspects they used to be.
After China's reform and opening up, its economic strength has continued to improve, and the economic and trade relations between the two countries have become increasingly developed.
With the help of China, Laos, which also began reform and opening up, chose moding as a special economic zone. Following China's "Belt and Road" initiative, we began to plan , China-Laos Railway .
If you want to be rich, you must first build a road. In the past, Laos, a landlocked country, had very backward transportation system, and basically had no railway transportation in China and had almost no ability to transport externally.
Laos is very enthusiastic about the China-Laos Railway. During the 85th Five-Year Plan period in Laos, this was listed as the number one project to plan.
After Laos cleared most of the bombs around the planned railway in 2017, my country's construction team risked participation in the bombs to carry out railway construction.
In addition, China has also invested heavily in Laos through Moding's Special Economic Zone. Today's investment is more of a partnership. With more than 800 investments in Laos worth 70 billion, China has become Laos' largest investor country.
It can be said that Laos has developed very rapidly taking advantage of China's development and the Belt and Road Initiative. Now Laos holds China's thigh tightly and never thinks about opposing China.
Then why did Laos go from hostile to pro-China in just a short time?
is the first factor in Laos.
On the political level, Eastern Europe changed drastically in the late 1980s. The collapse of the Soviet Union , there are some signs of these things.
Under the influence of the international situation, Laos has also begun to reform its economic and political system. The reform of the economic system and political system requires state support.
Laos first turned its attention to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, but these countries were too busy to take care of themselves, so they had no energy to help him.
Soviet collapse
followed by Vietnam. During the two mountains rotation war, Vietnam's economic development lagged very behind, and after losing the support of the Soviet Union, the Vietnamese could not give Laos any help.
Laos saw this, it was not OK. I had nothing to do with you, so why should I continue to hang out with you?
plus Vietnam itself has begun to establish good relations with China. Laos, which is eager to find more partners, is naturally willing to repair it with China.
Moreover, in recent years of reform and opening up, China's development has been seen by people, and Laos is not stupid. Just after the normalization of relations with China, the sudden changes in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union happened one after another, which made Laos a little worried that it would also change its color.
Eastern Europe drastic changes
On the other hand, China has continued to develop in the reform and opening up, and has also embarked on a development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. So Laos was at ease with China to develop.
This has led to the current friendly relations between China and Laos, and the birth of the China-Laos Railway.
Since ancient times, win-win cooperation has been the king of common development. The relationship between China and Laos proves this very well.
As one of the few socialist countries in the world today, China and Laos not only have deep historical origins, but also have the same social system and ideals and beliefs.
I believe that with the joint efforts of the Chinese and Laos people, Laos will become better and better with the development of China in the future.
Peaceful development will eventually become the consensus of the people of the world and the ultimate path for development of the world. As a responsible major country, China will surely work tirelessly for this great cause!
