Zhou Enlai's Diplomacy and the Neutralization of Indo-China, 1954–55

Abstract

A vital key to Zhou Enlai's diplomacy in Indo-China during 1954 and 1955 was his systematic effort to “neutralize” the region. Zhou, as Chinese premier and foreign minister, laid the foundations of China's approach to Indo-China. Subsequently, his policy of neutralization and its application to Indo-China focused on the enlargement of the “area of collective peace” along China's southern frontiers. This general formula reflected Zhou's primary concern for China's territorial security and economic development. In Zhou's estimation the immediate western military threat to China's security could be curbed effectively if Indo-China became a “neutralized” region in which the three local states, that is, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, were not allowed to enter into alliances with any outside major powers. Only by terminating French colonial domination in Indo-China and restraining major-power interference in the internal affairs of these three states could the peace and stability of Indo-China be secured.