Beijing is using a railway to create ‘a gravitational pull of dependency,’ making it impossible for Bangkok to refuse extradition requests.
China’s push to strengthen strategic ties with Thailand aims to ensure Bangkok complies with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) security operations, while also exporting a model of “colonialism with source code” to the kingdom, experts have told The Epoch Times.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping described China and Thailand as being as close as one family during his meeting with visiting Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Nov. 14, and urged joint efforts to advance a China-Thailand community with a shared future, according to a Nov. 14 report by China Daily.
King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida conclude their five-day state visit to China on Nov. 17. The trip, at Xi’s invitation, marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the countries and the first state visit to China by a reigning Thai monarch.
The monarch portrayed the Sino-Thai relations as brotherly cooperation, adding that he hoped to boost engagement between the countries in diverse fields.
Development for Repression
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Nov. 14 statement that China hopes to steadily advance cooperation with Thailand on major projects such as the China-Thailand railway.
Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a professor at Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies in Japan, said that Xi’s pledge to advance major infrastructure projects represents a direct use of economic incentives as a strategic tool.
“China will undoubtedly use the threat of slowing down funds, delaying technical assistance, or withdrawing capital from this massive project as primary leverage to pressure Thailand into compliance on politically sensitive non-economic matters,“ Pavin told The Epoch Times.
Pavin warned that the clearest trade-off involves Thailand maintaining or even expanding its role “as a compliant security hub for repatriating Chinese critics,” most notably Uyghur refugees.
“The ongoing success of the railway project will be tacitly, if not explicitly, conditional on Bangkok’s sustained cooperation in handing over or managing perceived Chinese dissidents, solidifying Thailand’s function as a border state for China’s internal security concerns,” he added.
By Jarvis Lim
