Discrimination against Chinese Indonesians
Violence against Chinese also took place in 1965 after the failed coup attempt during anti-communist purges;[1] the main target of the killings being Native Indonesian communists.
[3] Some observers suggest that Chinese Indonesians have become "the typical scapegoat" in situations where widespread discontent and social unrest becomes violent.
The term Cina, the use of which was mandated in 1967 instead of the then-commonly used Tionghoa, was perceived as having similar negative connotations to Inlander for Native Indonesians.
[5] The term Tionghoa began to be used again after the beginning of Reformation, but by then Cina was not considered negative by the younger generation of Chinese Indonesians.
Chinese Indonesians were urged to choose Indonesian-sounding names,[c][10] forbidden to practice their traditions publicly,[d][11] and required to obtain extra proof of citizenship.
[15] Based on Chinese artifacts found in Indonesia, China is thought to have had trading relations with the Indonesian archipelago since the first century B.C.
[17] Later, Chinese Muslim traders from the eastern coast of China arrived at the coastal towns of Indonesia and Malaysia in the early 15th century.
After an outbreak of malaria killed thousands in the 1730s, including the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Dirck van Cloon, the deportation policy was tightened.
[23] As a result, Commissioner of Native Affairs Roy Ferdinand, under orders of Governor-General Adriaan Valckenier, decreed on 25 July 1740 that Chinese considered suspicious would be deported to Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) to harvest cinnamon.
[23] Wealthy Chinese were extorted by corrupt Dutch officials who threatened them with deportation;[23] There were also rumours that deportees were not taken to their destinations but were thrown overboard once out of sight of Java, and in some accounts, they died when rioting on the ships.
[24] As the situation became tenser, Governor General Adriaan Valckenier held an emergency plenary session and reinforced the guard.
[25] The following day the Dutch repelled an attack by up to 10,000 ethnic Chinese, led by groups from nearby Tangerang and Bekasi, at the city's outer walls.
[24] Meanwhile, rumours spread among the other ethnic groups in Batavia, including slaves from Bali and Sulawesi, Bugis, and Balinese troops, that the Chinese were plotting to kill, rape, or enslave them.
[26] For two weeks, the troops burned Chinese-owned houses and stores, killing ethnic Chinese and dumping their bodies in the Ciliwung River.
[33] In 1848, the Dutch colonial government enacted the legislation sorting all inhabitants of the archipelago into two groups, based on whether or not they practised Christianity.
[35] Tensions between Sarekat Islam and the ethnic Chinese led to racially charged riots in Surakarta (1912), Tangerang (1913), and Kudus (31 October 1918).
Of these, the largest was the Kudus riot, where a group of rioters burned and looted forty houses and numerous Chinese temples.
[48] Eurasians, Indians, Chinese, Dutch, Menadonese, Bataks, Bugis, Dayaks, Javanese, Arabs and Malays were arrested and massacred in the Mandor affair.
This led to a treaty between China and Indonesia regarding the legal status of Chinese Indonesians, which formed the basis for the Citizenship Law of 1958.
The best estimate is that thousands of Chinese Indonesians were killed (out of a total death toll of 500,000), with documented massacres taking place in Makassar and Medan and on the island of Lombok.
[66] On 15 January 1974, student demonstrations against corruption, foreign investment, and President Suharto's clique of personal assistants were diverted by suspected Special Forces provocateurs into a full riot.,[67][68] and later an anti-Chinese Indonesian pogrom.
This led to difficulties for Chinese Indonesians when enrolling in state universities, applying to be civil servants, or joining the military or police.
[71] However, the Asian Financial Crisis caused the rupiah to collapse and economic growth slowed to 1.4 per cent in the fourth quarter.
[72] With rising unemployment and inflated food prices, the public lost confidence in the government's ability to turn the economy around.
Mobs also attacked Glodok in the northwestern part of the city, where the commercial area of Jakarta's Chinatown was badly damaged.
Some store owners reportedly paid local thugs to protect them from the violence because security forces were largely absent.
President Habibie passed legislation requiring the elimination of the terms pribumi and non-pribumi (native Indonesian and non-native) in 1998.
[87] Under the administration of Megawati Sukarnoputri and later Joko Widodo, Chinese Indonesians have been mostly "embraced" by the government, with numerous mixed-ethnic cultural presentations and media activity.
[92] Discrimination, distrust, and violence against Chinese Indonesians is caused in part by a perception that they are still loyal to China, and only see Indonesia as a place to live and work.
She also notes that younger Chinese Indonesians are increasingly impatient with the inability of the government and military to prevent inter-ethnic violence.
