Early interactions The first recorded movement of people from China into
Maritime Southeast Asia was the arrival of
Mongol forces under
Kublai Khan that culminated in the
invasion of Java in 1293. Their intervention hastened the decline of the classical kingdoms such as
Singhasari and precipitated the rise of the
Majapahit empire.
Chinese Muslim traders from the eastern coast of China arrived at the coastal towns of Indonesia and
Malaysia in the early 15th century. They were led by the mariner
Zheng He, who commanded
several expeditions to Southeast Asia between 1405 and 1430. In the book
Yingya Shenglan, his translator
Ma Huan documented the activities of the Chinese Muslims in the archipelago and the legacy left by Zheng He and his men. These traders settled along the northern coast of
Java, but there is no documentation of their settlements beyond the 16th century. The Chinese Muslims were likely to have been absorbed into the majority Muslim population. Between 1450 and 1520, the
Ming dynasty's interest in southeastern Asia reached a low point and trade, both legal and illegal, rarely reached the archipelago. The
Portuguese made no mention of any resident Chinese minority population when they arrived in Indonesia in the early 16th century. Trade from the north was re-established when China legalized private trade in 1567 through licensing 50
junks a year. Several years later silver began flowing into the region, from Japan, Mexico, and Europe, and trade flourished once again. Distinct Chinese colonies emerged in hundreds of ports throughout southeastern Asia, including the pepper port of
Banten. ,
Singapore Strait, 1936 Some Chinese traders avoided
Portuguese Malacca after it fell to the Portuguese in the
1511 Capture of Malacca. Many Chinese, however, cooperated with the Portuguese for the sake of trade. Some Chinese in
Java assisted in Muslim attempts to reconquer the city using ships. The Javanese–Chinese participation in retaking Malacca was recorded in "The Malay Annals of Semarang and Cerbon". Han Chinese in Indonesia forbid
parallel cousin marriage which Han culture bans. Hui Muslims marry parallel cousins.
Chinese in the archipelago under Dutch East India Company rule (1600–1799) festival painting in
Java Island by Dutch painter, circa 1883 and 1889 By the time the Dutch arrived in the early 17th century, major Chinese settlements existed along the north coast of Java. Most were traders and merchants, but they also practiced agriculture in inland areas. The Dutch contracted many of these immigrants as skilled artisans in the
construction of Batavia (Jakarta) on the northwestern coast of Java. A recently created harbor was selected as the new headquarters of the
Dutch East India Company ('''', VOC) in 1609 by
Jan Pieterszoon Coen. It grew into a major hub for trade with China and India. Batavia became home to the largest Chinese community in the archipelago and remains so in the 21st century. Coen and other early
governors-general promoted the entry of Chinese immigrants to new settlements "for the benefit of those places and for the purpose of gathering spices like
cloves,
nutmeg, and mace". The port's Chinese population of 300–400 in 1619 had grown to at least 10,000 by 1740. The VOC ruled migrant ethnic groups in Batavia using 'officers' drawn from each community, usually with the title
kapitan or
majoor. These officers had a high degree of authority over their community and undertook negotiations between the community and VOC authorities. Dutch colonial rule saw the beginning of anti-Chinese policies, including killings and ghettoization. ,
Canton province,
China, await the preparation of their contracts by immigration officials at Medan's labor inspectorate,
Belawan,
North Sumatra 1920–1940 Most of those who settled in the archipelago had already severed their ties with the mainland and welcomed favorable treatment and protection under the Dutch. Some became revenue farmers, middlemen within the corporate structure of the VOC, tasked with collecting
export–import duties and managing the harvest of natural resources; although this was highly profitable, it earned the enmity of the
pribumi population. Others worked as
opium farmers. Following the
1740 Batavia massacre and
ensuing war, in which the Chinese rebelled against the Dutch, the Dutch attempted to place a quota on the number of Chinese who could enter the Indies.
Amoy was designated as the only immigration port to the archipelago, and ships were limited to a specified number of crew and passengers depending on size. This quota was adjusted at times to meet demand for overseas workers, such as in July 1802 when sugar mills near Batavia were in need of workers. Han Chinese
peranakan rebels and Javanese Muslims both fought against the Dutch in the Java war in 1741 while Madurese Muslims allied with the Dutch. The Javanese Susuhunan Pakubuwana II joined the Chinese against the Dutch while the Dutch relieved the Madurese prince of his allegiance to the Susuhunan.
Han Siong Kong founded the
Han family of Lasem at this time. Chinese who married local Javanese women and converted to Islam created a distinct Chinese Muslim
peranakan community in Java. Chinese rarely had to convert to Islam to marry Javanese
abangan women but a significant amount of their offspring did, and Batavian Muslims absorbed the Chinese Muslim community which was descended from converts. Adoption of Islam back then was a marker of
peranakan status which it no longer means. The Semaran Adipati and the Jayaningrat families were of Chinese origin. Dayak women were married by the first Chinese men to settle in Borneo and this was recorded in the Hailu by Xie Qinggao (1765–1822) who was a merchant. After growing their initial population through this they began marrying each other's daughters. Peranakan community formed from local women in Java, Batavia marrying Hokkien Chinese migrants and they followed Chinese folk religion. Pure blood totok Chinese dominated Semarang after swamping out Peranakan Chinese when migrating in the late 18th century. However they intermarried with Peranakans from Batavia. Han Siong Kong of the
Han family of Lasem moved to Lasem in east Java, from his home of Zhangzhou in Fujian and his wife was not Chinese. Four of his sons married Peranakan women and one son of his married a Javanese woman and converted to Islam.
Chinese in the archipelago under Dutch colonial rule to 1900 1900s When the VOC was nationalized on 31 December 1799, many freedoms the Chinese experienced under the corporation were eliminated by the Dutch government. Among them was the Chinese monopoly on the salt trade which had been granted by the VOC administration. An 1816 regulation introduced a requirement for the indigenous population and Chinese traveling within the territory to obtain a travel permit. Those who did not carry a permit faced arrest by security officers. The governor-general also introduced a resolution in 1825 which forbade foreign Asians in Java, such as
Malays,
Buginese and Chinese, from living within the same neighborhood as the native population. Following the costly
Java War (1825–1830) the Dutch introduced a new agrarian and cultivation system that required farmers to "yield up a portion of their fields and cultivate crops suitable for the European market". Compulsory cultivation restored the economy of the colony, but ended the system of revenue farms established under the VOC. celebration in
Padang,
West Sumatra, circa 1948 The Chinese were perceived as temporary residents and encountered difficulties in obtaining land rights. Europeans were prioritized in the choice of plantation areas, while colonial officials believed the remaining plots must be protected and preserved for the indigenous population. Short-term and renewable leases of varying lengths were later introduced as a temporary measure, but many Chinese remained on these lands upon expiration of their contracts and became squatters. At the beginning of the 20th century, the colonial government began to implement the "
Ethical Policy" to protect the indigenous population, casting the Chinese as the "foremost enemy of the natives". Under the new policy, the administration increased restrictions on Chinese economic activities, which they believed exploited the native population. Powerful Chinese families were described as the
cabang atas (lit., upper branch) of colonial society, forming influential bureaucratic and business dynasties, such as the
Kwee family of Ciledug and the
Tan family of Cirebon. In western
Borneo, the Chinese established their first major mining settlement in 1760. Ousting Dutch settlers and the local Malay princes, they joined into a new republic known as
Lanfang, led by ethnic Hakka,
Lo Fang Pak. By 1819, they came into conflict with the new Dutch government and were seen as incompatible with its objectives, yet indispensable for the development of the region. The
Bangka–Belitung Islands also became examples of major settlements in rural areas. In 1851, 28 Chinese were recorded on the islands and by 1915, the population had risen to nearly 40,000 and fishing and tobacco industries had developed.
Coolies brought into the region after the end of the 19th century were mostly hired from the
Straits Settlements owing to recruiting obstacles that existed in China. Lowland Chinese in 1904 sold Beaumont and Winchester rifles in Sumatra to Bataks who were attacking and fighting the Dutch.
Divided nationalism (1900–1949) , Bangka The Chinese revolutionary figure
Sun Yat-sen visited southeast Asia in 1900, and, later that year, the socio-religious organization
Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan (), also known as the Chinese Association, was founded. Their goal was to urge ethnic Chinese in the Indies to support the revolutionary movement in China. In its effort to build Chinese-speaking schools the association argued that the teaching of the English and Chinese languages should be prioritized over Dutch, to provide themselves with the means of taking, in the words of
Phoa Keng Hek, "a two or three-day voyage (Java–
Singapore) into a wider world where they can move freely" and overcome restrictions of their activities. Several years later, the Dutch authorities abandoned its segregation policies, abolished travel permits for the ethnic Chinese, and allowed them to freely move throughout the colony. The 1911
Xinhai Revolution and the 1912 founding of the
Republic of China coincided with a growing Chinese–nationalist movement within the Indies. Although there was no recognizable
nationalist movement among the indigenous population until 1908, Dutch authorities feared that nationalist sentiments would spread with the growth of ethnically mixed associations, known as
kongsi. In 1911, some Javanese members of the Kong Sing association in
Surakarta broke away and clashed with the ethnic Chinese. This incident led to the creation of
Sarekat Islam, the first organized popular nationalist movement in the Indies. Indigenous groups saw the Chinese nationalist sentiment as haughty, leading to mutual antagonism. The anti-Chinese sentiment spread throughout Java in 1918 and led to violent attacks orchestrated by members of Sarekat Islam on the ethnic Chinese in
Kudus. Following this incident, the
left-wing Chinese nationalist daily
Sin Po called on both sides to work together to improve living conditions because it considered most ethnic Chinese, like most of the indigenous population, to be poor.
, later adopted as a national anthem, in a 1928 weekly edition of the Sin Po'' newspaper
Sin Po first went into print in 1910 and began gaining momentum as the leading advocate of Chinese political nationalism in 1917. The ethnic Chinese who followed its stream of thought refused any involvement with local institutions and would only participate in politics relating to mainland China. A second stream was later formed by wealthy ethnic Chinese who received an education at Dutch-run schools. This Dutch-oriented group wished for increased participation in local politics, Dutch education for the ethnic Chinese, and the furthering of ethnic Chinese economic standing within the colonial economy. Championed by the
Volksraad's Chinese representatives, such as
Hok Hoei Kan,
Loa Sek Hie and
Phoa Liong Gie, this movement gained momentum and reached its peak with the Chung Hwa Congress of 1927 and the 1928 formation of the
Chung Hwa Hui party, which elected Kan as its president. The editor-in-chief of the
Madjallah Panorama news magazine criticized
Sin Po for misguiding the ethnic Chinese by pressuring them into a Chinese-nationalist stance. or "The Chinese Police" in
Bagansiapiapi, which played a major role in maintaining peace and order among Chinese community In 1932, pro-Indonesian counterparts founded the '''' to support absorption of the ethnic Chinese into the Javanese population and support the call for
self-government of Indonesia. Members of this group were primarily . This division resurfaced at the end of the period of
Japanese occupation (1942–1945). Under the occupation ethnic Chinese communities were attacked by Japanese forces, in part owing to suspicions that they contained sympathizers of the
Kuomintang as a consequence of the
Second Sino-Japanese War. When the Dutch returned, following the end of World War II, the chaos caused by advancing forces and retreating revolutionaries also saw radical Muslim groups attack ethnic Chinese communities. The Japanese viewed the Chinese in Java and their economic power specifically as important and vital to Japanese war effort so they did not physically harm the Chinese of Java with no execution or torture of Chinese taking place unlike in other places. There was no violent confrontation between Japanese and Chinese on Java, unlike in
British Malaya. The Japanese also allowed Chinese of Java in the Federation of Overseas-Chinese Associations (
Hua Chiao Tsung Hui) to form the Keibotai, their own armed Chinese defense corps for protection with Japanese military instructors training them how to shoot and use spears. The Chinese viewed this as important to defending themselves from local Indonesians. The majority of Chinese of Java did not die in the war. It was only after the war ended when Japanese control fell and then the native Indonesians again started attacks against the Chinese of Java when the Japanese were unable to protect them. The Japanese recruited help from local collaborator police of all ethnicities to recruit Javanese girls as
comfort women, with one account accusing Chinese recruiters of tricking a Javanese regent into sending good Javanese girls into prostitution for the Japanese in May 1942. In Bali, the Japanese sexually harassed Balinese women when they came and started forcing Balinese women into brothels for prostitution, with Balinese men and Chinese men used as recruiters for the Balinese women. All of the brothels in Bali were staffed by Balinese women. Eurasians, Indians, Chinese, Dutch, Menadonese, Bataks, Bugis, Dayaks, Javanese, Arabs and Malays were arrested and massacred in the
Mandor affair. Although revolutionary leaders were sympathetic toward the ethnic Chinese, they were unable to stop the sporadic violence. Those who were affected fled from the rural areas to Dutch-controlled cities, a move many Indonesians saw as proof of pro-Dutch sentiments. There was evidence, however, that Chinese Indonesians were represented and participated in independence efforts. Four members of the
Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPK) were Chinese:
Liem Koen Hian,
Oey Tiang Tjoei,
Oey Tjong Hauw and
Tan Eng Hoa.
Yap Tjwan Bing was the sole Chinese member of the
Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI).
Ong Eng Die became a government minister in the Indonesian Republic. Other examples include Kwee Thiam Hiong member of
Jong Sumatranen Bond, Abubakar Tjan Kok Tjiang and Thung Tjing Ek (Jakub Thung) exploits in
Kaimana and
Serui respectively, BPRT (
Barisan Pemberontak Rakjat Tionghoa) which was founded in
Surakarta on 4 January 1946, LTI (
Lasjkar Tionghoa Indonesia) in
Pemalang, and in
Kudus Chinese descents became members of Muria Territorial Command called
Matjan Poetih troops, a platoon size force under Mayor Kusmanto.
Loyalty in question (1950–1966) The Netherlands relinquished its territorial claims in the archipelago (with the exception of
West Papua) following the
1949 Round Table Conference. In the same year that the
Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, allowing the
Chinese Communist Party to take control of mainland China. Most Chinese Indonesians considered a communist China less attractive than a newly independent Indonesia, but in the archipelago their loyalties were questioned. Ethnic Chinese born in the Dutch East Indies whose parents were
domiciled under Dutch administration were regarded as citizens of the new state according to the principle of
jus soli (lit., right of the soil). However, Chinese law considered a person as a Chinese citizen according to the principle of
jus sanguinis (lit., right of blood). This meant that all Indonesian citizens of Chinese descent were also claimed as citizens by the People's Republic of China. After several attempts by both governments to resolve this issue, Indonesia and China signed a
Dual Nationality Treaty on the sidelines of the 1955
Asian–African Conference in
Bandung. One of its provisions permitted Indonesians to renounce Chinese citizenship if they wished to hold Indonesian citizenship only. As many as 390,000 ethnic Chinese, two-thirds of those with rightful claims to Indonesian citizenship, renounced their Chinese status when the treaty came into effect in 1962. On the other hand, an estimated 60,000 ethnic Chinese students left for the People's Republic of China in the 1950s and early 1960s. The first wave of students were almost entirely educated in Chinese-language schools, but were not able to find opportunities for tertiary education in Indonesia. Seeking quality scientific professions, they entered China with high hopes for their future and that of the mainland. Subsequent migrations occurred in 1960 as part of a repatriation program and in 1965–1966 following a series of
anti-communist violence that also drew anger toward the ethnic Chinese. As many as 80% of the original students who entered the mainland eventually became refugees in Hong Kong. During China's
Cultural Revolution (1966–1976),
Red Guards questioned the loyalty of the returned overseas Chinese because of their foreign connections. They were attacked as "imperialists", "capitalists", "spies", "half-breeds", and "foreign devils".As most had grown up in an urban environment they were sent to the countryside, told to "rebel against their own class background", and eventually lost contact with their families. chinatown,
Jakarta, 1953. Restrictions on rural non-indigenous retail businesses in 1959 (mainly in Java island) led to rapid urbanization of the ethnic Chinese community. In 1959, following the introduction of soft-
authoritarian rule through
Guided Democracy, the Indonesian government and military began placing restrictions on
alien residence and trade. These regulations culminated in the enactment of
Presidential Regulation 10 in November 1959, banning retail services by non-indigenous persons in rural areas. Ethnic Chinese,
Arab, and Dutch businessmen were specifically targeted during its enforcement to provide a more favorable market for indigenous businesses. This move was met with protests from the Chinese government and some circles of Indonesian society. Javanese writer
Pramoedya Ananta Toer later criticized the policies in his 1961 book
Hoakiau di Indonesia. An
integrationist movement, led by the Chinese-Indonesian organisation
Baperki (''''), began to gather interest in 1963, including that of President
Sukarno. However, a series of attacks on ethnic Chinese communities in
West Java in May proved it to be short-lived, despite the government's condemnation of the violence. When Baperki was branded a communist organization in 1965 the ethnic Chinese were implicated by association; this was exacerbated in the public mind by the People's Republic of China's communism. As many as 500,000 people, the majority of them Javanese
Abangan Muslims and Balinese Indonesians but including a minority of several thousand ethnic Chinese, were killed in
the anti-communist purge which followed the
failed coup d'état, suspected as being communist-led, on 30 September 1965. In West Kalimantan, Dayaks were manipulated by the Indonesian military into massacring the Chinese. The land the Chinese fled from was taken by Dayaks as well as other groups, including the Madurese, who were later also massacred by the Dayaks.
Managing the "Chinese Problem" (1967–1998) When the
New Order government of General
Suharto came into power in 1966–1967, it introduced a political system based only on the
Pancasila (five principles) ideology. To prevent the ideological battles that occurred during Sukarno's presidency from resurfacing, Suharto's Pancasila democracy sought a depoliticized system in which discussions of forming a cohesive ethnic Chinese identity were no longer allowed. A government committee was formed in 1967 to examine various aspects of the "
Chinese Problem" ('
) and agreed that forced emigration of whole communities was not a solution: "The challenge was to take advantage of their economic aptitude whilst eliminating their perceived economic dominance." The semi-governmental Institute for the Promotion of National Unity (', LPKB) was formed to advise the government on facilitating assimilation of Chinese Indonesians. This process was done through highlighting the differences between the ethnic Chinese and the indigenous
pribumi, rather than seeking similarities. Expressions of Chinese culture through language, religion, and traditional festivals were banned and the ethnic Chinese were pressured to adopt
Indonesian-sounding names. During the 1970s and 1980s, Suharto and his government brought in Chinese Indonesian businesses to participate in the economic development programs of the New Order while keeping them highly vulnerable to strengthen the central authority and restrict political freedoms. Patron–client relationships, mainly through the exchange of money for security, became an accepted norm among the ethnic Chinese as they maintained a social contract through which they could claim a sense of belonging in the country. A minority of the economic elite of Indonesian society, both those who were and were not ethnic Chinese, secured relationships with Suharto's family members and members of the military for protection, while small business owners relied on local law enforcement officials. Stereotypes of the wealthy minority became accepted as generalized facts but failed to acknowledge that said businessmen were few in number compared to the small traders and shop owners. In a 1989 interview conducted by scholar Adam Schwarz for his book ''A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia's Search for Stability'', an interviewee stated that, "to most Indonesians, the word 'Chinese' is synonymous with corruption". The economic role of the ethnic Chinese was contradictory because it did not translate to acceptance of their status in the greater society. They were politically weak and often faced social harassment. In 1973, native Indonesian anger against Japan was boiling over, over predatory Japanese investment and economic policy that was described as colonialism. Native Indonesians hated Japanese businessmen for discriminating against native Indonesians and treating them badly while the Japanese favored Chinese Indonesian business partners over native Indonesians due to their experience, contacts and skills. The Japanese used Southeast Asians like native Indonesians for cheap labour and natural resources to make money while the natives lived on subsistence. Indonesians engaged in violent anti-Japanese protests in January 1974 when Japan's Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka came to Jakarta to visit Suharto. swept over Jakarta.
Social policy reforms (1999–present) Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998, one week after he returned from a
Group of 15 meeting in
Cairo, which took place during the riots. The reform government formed by his successor
Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie began a campaign to rebuild the confidence of Chinese Indonesians who had fled the country, particularly businessmen. Along with one of his envoys
James Riady, son of financial magnate
Mochtar Riady, Habibie appealed to Chinese Indonesians seeking refuge throughout East Asia, Australia, and North America to return and promised security from various government ministries as well as other political figures, such as
Abdurrahman Wahid and
Amien Rais. Despite Habibie's efforts he was met with skepticism because of remarks he made, as vice president and as president, which suggested that the message was insincere. One special envoy described Chinese Indonesians as the key to restoring badly needed capital and economic activity, prioritizing businessmen as the target of their pleas. Others, including economist
Kwik Kian Gie, saw the government's efforts as perpetuating the myth of Chinese economic domination rather than affirming the ethnic Chinese identity. Symbolic reforms to Chinese Indonesian rights under Habibie's administration were made through two presidential instructions. The first abolished the use of the terms
pribumi and non-
pribumi in official government documents and business. The second abolished the ban on the study of
Mandarin Chinese and reaffirmed a 1996 instruction that abolished the use of the SBKRI to identify citizens of Chinese descent. Habibie established a task force to investigate the May 1998 violence, although his government later dismissed its findings. As an additional legal gesture Indonesia ratified the 1965
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on 25 May 1999. In 2000 the newly elected President Wahid abolished the ban on public displays of Chinese culture and allowed Chinese traditions to be practised freely, without the need of a permit. Two years later President
Megawati Sukarnoputri declared that the
Chinese New Year ('''') would be marked as a
national holiday from 2003. Moreover, during President Wahid's presidency, the Indonesian Government initiated the first National Chinese New Year Celebration (
Perayaan Imlek Nasional). Since then, the National Chinese New Year Celebration has been held annually, attended by the President of Indonesia and related officials. Currently, the
Supreme Council for the Confucian Religion in Indonesia is the organizer of the event. Furthermore, in addition to President Habibie's directive on the term
pribumi, the legislature passed a new citizenship law in 2006 defining the word
asli (lit., indigenous) in the
Constitution as a natural born person, allowing Chinese Indonesians to be eligible to run for president. The law further stipulates that children of foreigners born in Indonesia are eligible to apply for Indonesian citizenship. The post-Suharto era saw the end of discriminatory policy against Chinese Indonesians. Since then, numbers of Chinese Indonesians began to take part in the nation's politics, government and administrative sector. The
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono presidency (2004–2014) saw the first female Chinese Indonesian minister
Mari Elka Pangestu as Minister of Trade (2004–2011) and Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (2011–2014). Another notable Chinese Indonesian in Indonesian politics is
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, former
Regent of East Belitung (2005–2006) and first
governor of Jakarta (2014–2017) of Chinese descent. However, discrimination and prejudice against Chinese Indonesians continues in the 21st century. On 15 March 2016, Indonesian Army General Suryo Prabowo commented that the incumbent governor of Jakarta,
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, should "know his place lest the Indonesian Chinese face the consequences of his action". This controversial comment was considered to hearken back to previous violence against the Indonesian Chinese. On 9 May 2017, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of committing a criminal act of
blasphemy, a move that was widely criticized by many as an attack on free speech. == Origins ==