Discrimination against people of Chinese descent in Indonesia has been carried out since the time of the Dutch East India Company. Serious violence against Chinese people has occurred at irregular intervals since 1740, when the soldiers of the Dutch East India Company and other ethnic groups from Batavia killed up to 10,000 people of Chinese descent during the Chinezenmoord. The worst outbreaks took place in 1946-49 during the Indonesian National Revolution against Dutch rule. There were significant outbreaks in the early 1960s. Violence against Chinese also took place in 1965 after the failed coup attempt during anti-communist purges,Coppel 2008, p. 122. though the main targets of the killings were Native Indonesian communists. In May 1998, many Chinese businesses were burned down and many Chinese girls and women were raped and murdered.
Forms Violence Violence against Chinese Indonesians generally consists of attacks on property, including factories and shops. However, killings and assaults have happened, including in Batavia in 1740, Tangerang in 1946, during the period after the 30 September Movement of 1965, and during the May 1998 riots.
Some observers suggest that Chinese Indonesians have become "the typical scapegoat" in situations where widespread discontent and social unrest becomes violent. The scapegoating has become more pronounced during the period since Indonesia's independence.
Language
Terms considered disparaging against Chinese Indonesians have entered common Indonesian usage, at both the regional and national levels. 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. 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.
In different regions different terms have come into use that reflect common stereotypes. The following examples are from Surakarta.
Original Translation Meaning Porsi Cina Chinese portion The largest portion of food Mambu Cina Smelling of the Chinese Newly purchased items Tangisan Cina Chinese tears Mourning cry
Legislation
After the end of Company rule and the introduction of metropolitan colonial rule in 1815, legislation was introduced specifically against Chinese Indonesians. One of the first was in 1816 and required ethnic Chinese to carry a special pass at all times.
During the Sukarno regime in 1958, all Chinese Indonesians were required to state their intent to stay Indonesian citizens and in 1959 Chinese who were not citizens were forbidden from doing business outside of urban areas. The discrimination continued into the New Order. Chinese Indonesians were urged to choose Indonesian-sounding names, forbidden to practice their traditions publicly, and required to obtain extra proof of citizenship. In total, forty five directly or indirectly discriminatory laws were passed during the New Order. Although the majority of this legislation was rescinded during the presidencies of Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri, instances of enforcement continued.
History
Background
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. However, the first recorded movement of people from China into the Maritime Southeast Asia was the arrival of Mongol forces under Kublai Khan that culminated in the Mongol invasion of Java in 1293. The Mongols introduced Chinese technology to the island, particularly shipbuilding and Ancient Chinese coinage. Their intervention also hastened the decline of the classical kingdoms and precipitated the rise of the Majapahit empire.
Later, 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 led several expeditions to southeastern Asia between 1405 and 1430. These traders settled along the northern coast of Java, but there is no further documentation of their settlements beyond the 16th century. Scholars believe that the Chinese Muslims became absorbed into the majority Muslim population, until no Chinese communities remained when the Dutch arrived. Trade from China was re-established when it legalised private trade in 1567 and began licensing 50 junks a year. Distinct Chinese colonies emerged in ports throughout the archipelago, including the pepper port of Banten.
Colonial era
By 1740, there were over 2,500 Chinese-owned houses within the Batavia city walls, with another 15,000 individuals living outside of the city limits. The Dutch colonials required them to carry registration papers, and those who did not comply were deported to China. 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. According to Indonesian historian Benny G. Setiono, the outbreak was followed by increased suspicion and resentment in native Indonesians and the Dutch toward the ethnic Chinese, who were growing in number and whose wealth was increasingly visible. 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. Wealthy Chinese were extorted by corrupt Dutch officials who threatened them with deportation; 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.
As the situation became tenser, Governor General Adriaan Valckenier held an emergency plenary session and reinforced the guard. On 7 October 1740, a group of hundreds of Chinese Indonesians attacked a Dutch stronghold in Tanah Abang, killing 50. In response, a troop of 1,800 Company soldiers led by Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff, together with militia () and conscripts (), came to crush the revolt. 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. 1,789 Chinese were reported to have died in this attack. 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. These groups pre-emptively burned houses belonging to ethnic Chinese along Besar River. The Dutch followed this with an assault on Chinese settlements elsewhere in Batavia in which they burned houses and killed people. For two weeks, the troops burned Chinese-owned houses and stores, killing ethnic Chinese and dumping their bodies in the Ciliwung River. Eventually an estimated 10,000 were killed in the 1740 Batavia massacre, including 500 prisoners and hospital patients. The surviving Chinese Indonesians in Batavia were moved to an area outside of the wall, in what is now Glodok. This was later applied to other cities, where Chinatowns () were built to segregate the Chinese and other ethnic groups. The event triggered a two-year war, in which Chinese and Javanese soldiers fought side by side.
When the VOC was nationalised on 31 December 1799, the freedoms the Chinese experienced under the corporation were taken away by the Dutch government. An 1816 regulation introduced a requirement for the indigenous population and Chinese travelling within the territory to obtain a travel permit. Those who did not carry a permit risked being arrested by security officers. The Governor-General also introduced a resolution in 1825 which forbade "foreign Asians" from living within the same neighbourhood as the native population.
During the Java War, thousands of Chinese Indonesians were killed by Prince Diponegoro's forces during raids on the southern coast of Java. Survivors fled to the northern coast or to Dutch settlements for protection. Setiono cites the Chinese's status as tax collectors and loan providers as a cause, as well as Diponegoro's belief that the Chinese brought bad luck upon his campaign.
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. This was later amended in 1855, combining Native Indonesian, Chinese, Arab, and Indian Christians with non-Christians. However, in practice the "foreign Orientals" were subject to separate regulations.
By 1912, the Dutch government had abandoned the policy of segregation. During the same period, the Xinhai Revolution awakened Chinese nationalism in the ethnic Chinese, while Sarekat Islam worked to awaken Indonesian nationalism in the Native Indonesian populace. 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. At least 16 were killed in the riots.
Japanese occupation and National Revolution (1942–1949)
After the Japanese occupied Indonesia in 1942, at least 542 ethnic Chinese from Java and Madura were arrested and detained in the Cimahi concentration camp; this group included leaders, spouses of Europeans, and Chinese who were legally considered Europeans. Chinese organisations were disbanded and banned. Not long afterwards, ethnic Chinese were required to register themselves and pledge their allegiance to the Japanese army. Despite Japanese attempts to quell dissent, there were several underground resistance movements led by ethnic Chinese.
This was followed by the Pontianak incident in October 1943. Over 1,500 people were arrested or killed by the Japanese occupying forces in an attempt to prevent a multi-ethnic rebellion. Ethnic Chinese were the largest single group targeted, with 854 killed in the affair.
From 30 May to 4 June 1946, attacks from Indonesian independence fighters killed 653 Chinese Indonesians. Roughly a thousand Chinese Indonesian-owned homes were burned; Mely G. Tan notes this as the worst of the violence targeted at Chinese Indonesians during the war. More cases were reported in Karawaci, Bayur, and Bagansiapiapi.