From Foes to Friends China and the United States in Laos' Foreign Policy

• Published in: Contemporary Southeast Asia Vol. 46; no. 1; pp. 103 - 124
• Main Author: SAYALATH, SOULATHA
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute 01-04-2024; ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute; Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)
• Subjects: Cambodia; China; Chinese foreign relations; Cold War, 1945-1991; Communism; East Asia; Foreign policy; Laos; Political parties; Security management; Southeast Asia; Thailand; Vietnam; Southeast Asia; Vietnam; Cambodia; China; East Asia; Thailand; Laos
• ISSN: 0129-797X; 1793-284X
• DOI: 10.1355/cs46-1e

Domestic politics has shaped the foreign policy of Laos (formally the Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic, or LPDR) since the 1970s, specifically its relations with China and the United States. During the 1980s, the communist government of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) feared that China and the United States were supporting counter-revolutionary resistance groups, prompting Vientiane to adopt closer relations with Beijing and Washington to ensure its own internal security by motivating them to cut off their support for anti-LPRP groups. As the Soviet Union reduced economic aid to Laos in the latter stages of the Cold War, the LPRP adopted market-based reforms in 1986 to generate closer security and economic cooperation with China and the United States and to grow its economy. Domestic concerns of regime survival and performance legitimacy remain key drivers of Laos' foreign policy.