The ROK’s Attempts to Improve Relations with the PRC and Its Effects on ROK-ROC(Taiwan) Relations in 1983~84: Focusing on Taiwan’s Boycott of the 8th Asian Basketball Confederation Junior Championship

This essay explores the boycott of the 8th Asian Basketball Confederation Junior Championship by Taiwan, the responses from the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan), and how this event fits into the historical context of ROK–People’s Republic of China (PRC) and ROK–ROC relations. Unlike previous research, which has largely overlooked the boycott and mainly considered incidents like the 1983 Chinese airliner hijacking, this analysis considers the boycott significant. Therefore, it examines the event through newly declassified diplomatic documents. Its effects could be more important than the hijacking in the context of the ROK’s policy of “sacrificing relationship with Taiwan for improving relations with People’s Republic of China (PRC)”, and the evident Taiwanese resentment toward the ROK. The boycott potentially influenced Deng Xiaoping’s perception of the ROK. The period of 1983~84, marked by the hijacking and the boycott, was crucial for the ROK’s diplomatic outreach to the PRC, the softening of the PRC’s stance toward the ROK, and the ROC’s growing concerns about the ROK–PRC relations.