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The Chinese Civil War and Implications for Borderland State Consolidation in Mainland South-East Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2019

Enze Han
Enze Han*
Affiliation:
University of Hong Kong. Email: enzehan@hku.hk.
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Abstract

Few studies on the legacies of the Chinese Civil War have examined its effects on state consolidation in the borderland area between China and mainland South-East Asia. This paper empirically examines the impact of the intrusion of the defeated Kuomingtang (KMT) into the borderland area between China, Burma and Thailand. In the People's Republic of China (PRC), the presence of the US-supported KMT across its Yunnan border increased the new communist government's threat perceptions. In response, Beijing used a carrot-and-stick approach towards consolidating its control by co-opting local elites while ruthlessly eliminating any opposition deemed to be in collusion with the KMT. In the case of Burma, the KMT presence posed a significant challenge to Burmese national territorial integrity and effectively led to the fragmentation of the Burmese Shan State. Finally, in Thailand, Bangkok collaborated with the Americans in support of the KMT to solidify its alliance relations. Later, Thailand used the KMT as a buffer force for its own border defence purposes against a perceived communist infiltration from the north. This paper contextualizes the spill-over effects of the Chinese Civil War in terms of the literature on how external threats can potentially facilitate state consolidation.

摘要

摘要

现有文献很少有关于中国内战对中国与东南亚大陆边境地区国家整合的影响。本文通过实证, 讲述了战败的国民党入侵中缅泰边境地区的影响。对于中华人民共和国, 国民党军队在美国的支持下增加了新共产党政府在云南边境的威胁感。作为回应, 北京采用软硬皆施的方式巩固了其控制权。一边吸收当地精英进入新政权, 同时无情地消除任何与国民党勾结的反对派。在缅甸, 国民党军队对缅甸国家的领土完整构成了重大挑战, 并实际性地导致了缅甸掸邦的分裂。最后, 泰国与美国合作, 通过支持国民党巩固其与美联盟关系。后来, 泰国也利用国民党军队作为其自身边境防御目的的缓冲力量, 以防止来自北方的共产主义渗透。

Keywords

Chinese Civil WarKMTBurma/MyanmarThailandborderland consolidationChinese–South-East Asian relations中国内战国民党缅甸泰国边疆巩固中国与东南亚关系
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 241 , March 2020 , pp. 214 - 235
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London, 2019

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