China and the Shaping of Indonesia, 1949-1965
China and the Shaping of Indonesia, 1949-1965

Author: Hong Liu

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 9789971693817

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The interactions and mutual perceptions of China and Indonesia were a significant element in Asia's postcolonial transformation, but as a result of prevailing emphasis on diplomatic and political relations within a Cold War and nation-state framework, their multi-dimensional interrelationship and its complex domestic ramifications have escaped scholarly scrutiny. China and the Shaping of Indonesia provides a meticulous account of versatile interplay between knowledge, power, ethnicity, and diplomacy in the context of Sino-Indonesian interactions between 1949 and 1965. Taking a transnational approach that views Asia as a flexible geographical and political construct, this book addresses three central questions. First, what images of China were prevalent in Indonesia, and how were narratives about China construed and reconstructed? Second, why did the China Metaphor - the projection of an imagined foreign land onto the local intellectual and political milieu - become central to Indonesians' conception of themselves and a cause for self criticism and rediscovery? Third, how was the China Metaphor incorporated into Indonesia's domestic politics and culture, and how did it affect the postcolonial transformation, the fate of the ethnic Chinese minority, and Sino-Indonesian diplomacy? Employing a wide range of hitherto untapped primary materials in Indonesian and Chinese as well as his own interviews, Hong Liu presents a compelling argument that many influential politicians and intellectuals, among them Sukarno, Hatta, and Pramoedya, utilized China as an alternative model of modernity in conceiving and developing projects of social engineering, cultural regeneration and political restructuring that helped shape the trajectory of modern Indonesia. The multiplicity of China thus constituted a site of political contestations and intellectual imaginations. The study is a major contribution both to the intellectual and political history of Indonesia and to the reconceptualization of Asian studies; it also serves as a timely reminder of the importance of historicizing China's rising soft power in a transnational Asia.

The Chinese of Indonesia and Their Search for Identity
The Chinese of Indonesia and Their Search for Identity

Author: Aimee Dawis

Publisher: Cambria Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1604976063

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This book examines how the Indonesian Chinese who were born after 1966 negotiate meanings about their culture and identity through their collective memory of growing up in a restrictive media environment that specifically curtailed Chinese language and culture. The restrictive media environment was the result of a series of policies administered during the Suharto era (1965-1998). According to the regulations, the Indonesian government closed all Chinese-language schools and prohibited the use of Chinese characters in public places, the import of Chinese-language publications, and all public forms and expressions of Chinese culture. In the past century, and particularly in the past decade, much attention has been given to China and its rising status as a world economic power. Scholarship on overseas Chinese has also shed light on their relationship with their 'mythic homeland', China. In their work, scholars discovered that the Chinese of Southeast Asia have created a prominent economic, political, and cultural presence in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. In the 1960s, scholars such as George Kahin, Ruth McVey, and Benedict Anderson were drawn to the political upheavals in Indonesia and the various roles that the Chinese of Indonesia have played in the economic, political, and cultural arenas of their country. In later years, Charles Coppel and Leo Suryadinata have published extensively on various aspects of the Chinese in Indonesia, such as their religious affiliations and education. Despite the considerable attention given to the Chinese of Indonesia, scholars have not specifically studied, through the lens of the media, how a certain group of Chinese Indonesians grew up in a restrictive media and cultural environment during the 33 years when Indonesia was ruled by Suharto. This book takes the first step in examining this generation's collective memory of growing up in a state-controlled environment that has had a significant impact on their identity formation, maintenance, and the (re)negotiation of 'Chineseness' in their everyday lives. This book will appeal especially to media, cultural studies, and Southeast Asian studies scholars, researchers, and students.

Heirs to World Culture
Heirs to World Culture

Author: M.H.T. Sutedja-LIem

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2012-01-01

Total Pages: 547

ISBN-13: 9004253513

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This volume brings together new scholarship by Indonesian and non-Indonesian scholars on Indonesia’s cultural history from 1950-1965. During the new nation’s first decade and a half, Indonesia’s links with the world and its sense of nationhood were vigorously negotiated on the cultural front. Indonesia used cultural networks of the time, including those of the Cold War, to announce itself on the world stage. International links, post-colonial aspirations and nationalistic fervour interacted to produce a thriving cultural and intellectual life at home. Essays discuss the exchange of artists, intellectuals, writing and ideas between Indonesia and various countries; the development of cultural networks; and ways these networks interacted with and influenced cultural expression and discourse in Indonesia. With contributions by Keith Foulcher, Liesbeth Dolk, Hairus Salim HS, Tony Day, Budiawan, Maya H.T. Liem, Jennifer Lindsay, Els Bogaerts, Melani Budianta, Choirotun Chisaan, I Nyoman Darma Putra, Barbara Hatley, Marije Plomp, Irawati Durban Ardjo, Rhoma Dwi Aria Yuliantri and Michael Bodden.

The Chinese in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia
The Chinese in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia

Author: Dr. Charles A. Coppel

Publisher: Minority Rights Group

Published: 1982-01-01

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13: 0903114097

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In the first edition of this Report, an appeal was made for the governments of the three countries to welcome at least the local boom Chinese as citizens. It was argued that although adoption of the iussoli principle alone would not solve all the problems, it was a necessary first step. In the present edition, it has been seen that the liberalization of access to citizenship for the Chinese in the Philippines and Indonesia has gone some distance toward bringing them into line with Malaysia, thereby reducing the size of their alien minorities. Although this process could (and may well) go much further, the central issue in all three countries is increasingly similar the extent to which their governments discriminate between those of their citizens who are of Chinese descent and those who are not. The goals of national policy in the three countries are frequently contradictory and inconsistent. On the other hand, a desire for a rapid economic development which can help to alleviate poverty suggests that the governments should make the best use possible of Chinese resources, both of skill and of capital, with their established network of relationships with Chinese elsewhere in the region, including those in Singapore. Although this is consistent with a growing regional integration among the ASEAN countries, it is inconsistent with separate economic nationalism in those countries. It also conflicts with the desire of governments to provide special opportunities for indigenous people to share in the benefits of economic growth. On the other hand, where they make special provision for access of the indigenous population to certain areas of the economy and educational institutions (or restrict the access of Chinese to them to bring about the same result) they depart from the principles of non-discrimination among citizens regardless of race or ethnic origin to which they claim to adhere. Discriminatory policies, however benign in intent, make it necessary to classify citizens in separate groups and this in turn conflicts with the goal of achieving national unity. Please note that the terminology in the fields of minority rights and indigenous peoples’ rights has changed over time. MRG strives to reflect these changes as well as respect the right to self-identification on the part of minorities and indigenous peoples. At the same time, after over 50 years’ work, we know that our archive is of considerable interest to activists and researchers. Therefore, we make available as much of our back catalogue as possible, while being aware that the language used may not reflect current thinking on these issues.