In a conversation with Morrin, Hakim (both youtubers) said China was diplomatically isolated at that point. By the west because the Mao era, and I know that their relations with immediate neighbours aren’t the best right now. Can someone tell more about this?

  • @redjoker
    5•3 years ago

    The change happened in phases. After 1949 only other socialist countries (USSR, Warsaw Pact nations, DPRK) recognized the PRC. In 1950 India was the first non-socialist country to recognize the PRC, other neighboring countries with border disputes followed

    In the 1960s the PRC built water infrastructure to Hong Kong in exchange for access to trade. During the Sino-Soviet split this was the only way for the PRC to trade internationally

    In 1972 the PRC was recognized as China by the UN, thanks primarily to African nations and the USSR, and took its seat as a permanent member on the UNSC

    In 1976 the US reopened diplomatic relations thanks to negotiations between Henry Kissinger and Zhou Enlai. This is why Kissinger and Nixon are viewed rather favorably in China today (and why quite a few Chinese people of that generation use the English names Henry and Richard)

    The reform and opening up period involved economic restructuring to get access to World Bank and IMF loans to build up infrastructure. During this time initially Taiwanese and Hongkonger businesses started opening factories, which then drew the interest of more foreign companies

    During Deng’s time he developed the foreign policy of “bide our time, hide our strength”, which generally involved voting with the US bloc in the UN, or abstaining if in disagreement. This is sometimes called the honeymoon period with the US, when the US was selling a ton of military equipment cheaply to the PRC and doing joint training exercises. The first time the PRC vetoed a UNSC resolution was when the US wanted the UN to invade Yugoslavia. The honeymoon period came to an abrupt halt when the US bombed the PRC embassy in Belgrade in 1999

    So it was economically isolated, yes, but not necessarily diplomatically, and the most critical diplomatic openings happened under Mao. As the PRC’s economy grew, thanks to the reforms Deng made, more countries switched from recognizing the ROC to the PRC as China, and that still continues today to the point that there’s only about 11 Pacific island neighbors of Taiwan that don’t have diplomatic relations with the PRC