He was a vocal leader of the younger faction of Chung Hwa Hui (CHH), a centre-right political party seen by many as a mouthpiece of the Chinese establishment in colonial Indonesia.
[4] Phoa came into conflict with some of the policies of the older party leadership, represented by the senior parliamentarians H. H. Kan and Loa Sek Hie.
[4][2][3] After the Second World War, between 1946 and 1948, Phoa acted as a legal advisor and delegate of the Netherlands at the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in New York and Geneva.
[4][8] The editorial board of Panorama included such leading nationalists as Sanusi Pane, Amir Sjarifuddin and Mohammad Yamin, with the prominent journalist, Liem Koen Hian, as chief editor.
[10] Phoa was also the owner of two further publications, the magazines Si Pao and Kong Hwa Po, the last of which was similarly under Liem's editorial oversight.
[2][8] Phoa was married Laura Charlotte Ongkiehong, daughter of the Ambon-based newspaper owner and magnate, Ong Kie Hong, and granddaughter of Njio Tek Liem, Luitenant der Chinezen of Ambon ('Lieutenant of the Chinese').