The Cold War Factor And The Transformation Of Overseas Chinese Society In Thailand

Shortly after the Second World War, the Cold War between the capitalist countries whichwere led by the United States andthe socialist countries that were headed by the Soviet Union erupted.Next, with the establishment of new China in 1949 and the Korean War in 1950, the Cold War spread to Southeast Asia gradually.Then, Eisenhower, the American President came up with “China threat theory”.In the process of the rise and development of the Cold War between the East and the West, the attitude of both Thailand and Chinato the overseas Chinese also had corresponding change, as Thailand is located in the center of Southeast Asia, and China is led by the Communist Party.In order to go on surviving and developing in Thailand, overseas Chinese chose to blend in Thailand, and gradually finished the psychological change from “falling leaves” to “roots”.This psychological change was concentrated in their economic and political life.The Cold War, as it were, was the catalyst of the overseas Chinese in Thailand in transforming into Chinese society.The paper includes three parts, which are exordium, text and epilogue.The body of the chapter contains three chapters to discuss the rise of the Cold War andthe response ofthe overseas Chinese society in Thailand, the acceleration transformation of overseas Chinese society in Thailand after the Bandung Conference and the basic formation of the Chinese society in Thailand in the times of ease.The first chapter was againstthe background of the rise of Cold War betweenU.S. and Soviet to discuss the change of the bilateral relations of U.S.-Thai and Sino-Thai. Thenthe chapter analyzed the shift ofoverseas Chinese policy of China and Thailand. At last, under the pressure of both China and Thailand and other parties, the overseas Chinese were forced to naturalize in Thailand’s economic and political life.The second chapter began with Bandung Conference in 1955, expounding the shift of China’s overseas Chinese policy. At the same time, it analyzed the Thailand’s continuous assimilation policies inboth political and economic. In this way, the transformation of the overseas Chinese in Thailand in assimilating into Thailand was sped up.The third chapter defined the 70-80 s of the 20 th century as “Ease Time”of China-Thailand relation. In other words, during this time,the U.S.-ThaiAlliance was becoming more and more loose, but the China-Thailand and the Sino-U.S. relations were getting better. After the Event of Thai Students in 1973, Thailand also accelerated the process of democratization.In this context, the paper discussed the transformations of overseas Chinese in both politics and economy. In conclusion, Chinese social in Thailand was formed basically.