What's the meaning of 'thus them'?

... the Westerners focused on the party’s stated mission to save the country from hunger and want. That would surely involve trade with the West, and ***thus them***.

Question

What's the meaning of 'thus them'?

... the Westerners focused on the party’s stated mission to save the country from hunger and want. That would surely involve trade with the West, and ***thus them***.

Answer

Thus means "for this reason", "as so", "in consequence of".

So the sentence is most likely referring to the fact that  trade with the West is directly related to either the Westerners themselves or some other entity mentioned in the text previous to the excerpt you pasted above.

Answer

It will involve trade with the West and thus (involve) them.

and thus = and so, and consequently, and as a result

But who or what "them" is I'm not sure. Could you include the sentences before this part? That might give us a better understanding.

Answer

Hi! That doesn’t make sense... what follows thus them?