. His political career began in the Municipal Council of Batavia and a number of Chinese chambers of commerce (Siang Hwee). When the
Volksraad, Indonesia's first legislature, was convened by the
Governor-General for the first time, Kan accepted appointment to the newly founded legislative body in 1918. He did so despite widespread opposition to the colonial parliament from many Chinese and indigenous subjects of the Dutch East Indies, many of whom refused to cooperate with the colonial government and campaigned for outright independence. Kan remained a member of the Volksraad until its dissolution by the Japanese, who invaded the colony in 1942 during the
Second World War. In 1928, Kan presided — as founding President — over the formation of Chung Hwa Hui (CHH), a political association that attracted the support of mainly
Dutch-educated ethnic Chinese. Together with the likes of his distant cousin,
Han Tiauw Tjong, and
Loa Sek Hie, who were both on the Executive Committee of CHH, Kan pleaded for legal equality of the Chinese with Europeans under Indies law. Kan also opposed some of the legal disabilities that had been imposed on the Chinese of the colony, such as limitations on ownership of agricultural land and excessive taxation. Nonetheless, CHH was dubbed the 'Packard club' by the colonial press for the expensive cars used by the party's leadership, and was criticised as too elitist and removed from the day-to-day concerns of other Chinese-Indonesians. Kan's relationship with
Indonesian nationalists was also ambiguous. In 1927, Kan voted against expanding the franchise for elections to the Volksraad as he feared domination of the legislature by
indigenous Indonesians. His pro-Dutch attitude even drew the criticism of
Phoa Liong Gie, a leader of CHH's more liberal and pro-nationalist younger faction. Following an open conflict over Kan's apparent dominance of CHH, Phoa resigned from the party and sat as an independent in the Volksraad when eventually appointed to it in 1939. Notwithstanding supposed pro-Dutch sympathies, Kan supported the ill-fated
Soetardjo Petition in 1936, which requested Indonesian Independence within ten years as part of a Dutch commonwealth. In 1932, representing Chinese-Indonesian private enterprises, Kan went on a tour of China, and became close to the Chinese Consul-General to the Dutch East Indies. In 1934, the colony's Chinese chambers of commerce federated, and offered the Consul-General the position of honorary president, and Kan that of inaugural president. This drew the ire of the then Governor-General due to the federated group's perceived closeness to the
Republic of China, a foreign power, leading to Kan's resignation of his presidency of the chamber. In 1935, Kan went to the
Netherlands to promote better relations between the Chinese-Indonesian community and the Dutch authorities. Kan was made an Officer of the
Order of Orange-Nassau in 1921, and a Knight of the
Order of the Netherlands Lion in 1930 in recognition of his service to the
Dutch Crown. ==Japanese occupation and death==