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The Sino-Indonesian Rupture1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Justus M. Van Der Kroef
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Extract

On October 7, 1967, Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Adam Malik, told anti-communist student demonstrators in Jakarta that Indonesia was moving in the direction of a complete break in diplomatic relations with China. On October 9, after a special cabinet meeting, the Indonesian government announced that it was “suspending” relations with the Peking government, thus effecting a kind of de facto diplomatic break. On October 29, Peking followed suit ordering the “temporary closing” of its embassy in Jakarta. On October 31, a Chinese plane flew the eight remaining Indonesian diplomats in Peking home to Jakarta and picked up the 20 or so remaining Chinese diplomatic staff in the Indonesian capital. These developments climaxed a two-year period of declining Sino-Indonesian relations which began with the abortive communist coup of September 30, 1965. During this time, the erstwhile Sino-Indonesian partnership, once conceived by its creators as the nucleus of a world movement against “neo-colonialism, colonialism and imperialism” deteriorated into bitterness. Three factors in this rapid deterioration deserve particular attention:

Peking's alleged involvement in the September 30 coup (usually called Gestapu—from Gerakan tigah puluh September—by acronymminded Indonesians) and her reportedly subsequent subversive burrowing in Indonesia, the anti-communist momentum of Indonesian politics since the coup and its impact on the three million Chinese minority in Indonesia, and the pattern of steadily escalating tensions between the two countries following their respective diplomatic ploys and counterploys.

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Type
Recent Developments
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The China Quarterly , Volume 33 , March 1968, pp. 17 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1968

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References

2–3 See, e.g., Hughes, John, Indonesian Upheaval (New York: David McKay Co., 1967), pp. 197–298Google Scholar, and Kroef, Justus M. van der, “Sukarno's Fall,” Orbis, summer 1967, pp. 494–531Google Scholar, and “Indonesia: the Battle of the ‘Old’ and the ‘New Order,’” Australian Outlook, April 1967, pp. 18–43.

4 Antara Daily News Bulletin, November 2 and 29, December 15 and 28, 1965; Reuter's despatch, Jakarta, February 14, 1966; Djakarta Daily Mail, December 20, 1965.

5 Djakarta Daily Mail, October 22, 1965.

6 Sabah Times (Jesselton), 09 14, 1965Google ScholarPubMed.

7 Armed Forces Daily Mail (Jakarta), 10 14, 1966Google Scholar, and Sinar Harapan (Jakarta), 10 11 and 14, 1966Google Scholar.

8 Dommen, Arthur J., “The Attempted Coup in Indonesia,” The China Quarterly, No. 25 (01–03, 1966), pp. 154–155CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 The Djakarta Times, December 8, 1966.

10 Djakarta Daily Mail, June 2 and August 10, 1965.

11 Peking Review, October 1, 1965, p. 6. See also Adie, W. A. C., “Peking's Purge and Foreign Policy,” Mizan, 07/08 1966, p. 154Google Scholar; “…though the events of September-October 1965 in Indonesia are still obscure, it seems certain that these two leaders (i.e., Sukarno and Subandrio) expected some ‘step forward’ which was also expected in China (among other things, stamps reached Hong Kong from China at the time overprinted ‘Indonesian People's Republic’).”

12 The Straits Times (Singapore and Kuala Lumpur), 03 16, 1966Google Scholar, and The New York Times, March 16, 1966.

13 Ampera (Jakarta), 08 8, 1966Google Scholar.

14 The Djakarta Times, November 23, 1966.

15 Ibid., November 21, 1966.

16 Antara Daily News Bulletin, January 16, 1967.

17 Angkatan Bersendjata (Jakarta), 04 17, 1967Google Scholar and Reuter's despatch, Jakarta, April 7, 1967.

18 Antara Daily News Bulletin, April 26, 1967.

19 The Djakarta Times, May 31, 1967.

20 Reprinted in Peking Review, July 14, 1967, pp. 15–17.

21 Ibid., July 14, 1967, pp. 18–22, July 21, 1967, pp. 13–22.

22 For example, from March through May 1963, violent anti-Chinese riots rocked a number of Indonesian cities, among them Medan, Bandung and Tjeribon, in the wake of a traffic incident involving a Chinese and an Indonesian youth in the last-named city. See my “The Sino-Indonesian Partnership,” op. cit., pp. 332–333.

23 See, e.g., The Indonesian Herald (Jakarta), 09 2, 1966Google Scholar; Antara Daily News Bulletin, September 24 and November 29, 1966; Trisakti (Jakarta), 11 15, 1966Google Scholar; The Straits Times, November 17 and 18, 1966, Armed Forces Daily Mail, September 23, 1966, and van der Kroef, Justus M., “How Dead is the Indonesian Communist Party?” Communist Affairs, 01–02 1967, pp. 3–10Google Scholar.

24 Antara Daily News Bulletin, September 28, 1966, and Ketetapan-Ketetapan M.P.R.S. Hasil-Hasil Sidang Umum Ke-IV Tahun 1966 (Jakarta, C.V. Pantjuran Tudjuh. 1967), pp. 105–108Google Scholar.

25 Antara Daily News Bulletin, March 4, 1967.

26 Ibid., October 14, 1966, and April 24, 1967.

27 For details see my Communism in Malaysia and Singapore. A Contemporary Survey (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1967), Chap. IVGoogle Scholar.

28 The Sarawak Tribune (Kuching), 10 4 and 6, 1966Google Scholar, and Geldard, Geoffrey, “Communist Threat on Sarawak's Border,” The Straits Times, 08 24, 1967Google Scholar.

29 Antara Daily News Bulletin, October 10 and 14, 1967. To cope with the insurgency and with border Chinese participation on it, the Indonesian government, at least in theory, intends no half-way measures. One visiting Indonesian military spokesman, Colonel M. Saihoesin, announced on April 22, 1967, in Kuching, that some 350,000 Chinese nationals in Indonesian West Borneo would be moved to “controlled areas,” there to await eventual deportation to China. Out of almost half a million Chinese between the Sarawak border and the control area of Pontianak, only 100,000 had become Indonesian citizens, according to this spokesman. “There is no alternative but to send them back to China,” he added.

30 The Sarawak Tribune, November 3, 1967, The Straits Times, November 16, 1967, and The New York Times, November 18, 1967.

31 See, e.g., The Djakarta Times, February 1, April 6 and 29, May 19 and 26, June 2, 1967.

32 Antara Daily News Bulletin, September 20, 1966.

33 The dual citizenship problem has stemmed primarily from the continuing confusion surrounding the Sine-Indonesian citizenship treaty. Originally agreed on by the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia and China in 1955, the treaty basically provided that any Chinese Indonesian, 18 or over, or under 18 and married, and holding or claiming to hold dual nationality of the two countries, would be given two years from the date of formal ratification to choose between them. This choice involved either a repudiation of Chinese citizenship before appropriate Indonesian officials, or a repudiation of Indonesian citizenship before Chinese authorities. Failure to choose would give the individual the citizenship of his or her father. About half of Indonesia's then 2–3 million Chinese fell into the category of having (or claiming) both Chinese and Indonesian citizenship in 1955. Sharp criticism of some of the treaty provisions by various political groups in Indonesia, outbursts of Sino Indonesian tension over the economic position of the Chinese in Indonesia, evident disinclination of many dual citizenship holders to comply, and Indonesia's unilateral decision in 1959 to except certain categories of persons (including legislators, military and police) from the treaty's provision, all led to long delay in ratification. Not until December 14, 1960, was the final implementation of the treaty formally agreed upon between the two governments, but questions concerning the constitutional legality of the implementation agreement have continued to call the efficacy of treaty provisions in doubt. For informative analyses of the problem, see Mozingo, David, “The Sino-Indonesian Dual Nationality Treaty,” Asian Survey, 12 1961Google Scholar, and Willmott, Donald E., The National Status of the Chinese m Indonesia 1900–1958 (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Modern Indonesia Project, 1961), pp. 44–66Google Scholar. See also Peraturan Pemerintah No, 20 Tahun 1959 tentang Pelaksanaan Undang-Undang tentang Persetudjuan Perdjandjian Antara Republik Indonesia dan Republik Rakjat Tiongkok Mengenai Soal dwi Kewarganegaraan (Jakarta: Departemen Penerangan R.I., Penerbitan Chusus, 67, 1960)Google Scholar.

34 Somers, Mary F., Peranakan Chinese Politics in Indonesia (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Modern Indonesian Project, 1964), pp. 14, 34Google Scholar.

35 Antara Daily News Bulletin, November 14, 1966 and July 5, 1967.

36 Ibid., January 21, 1967.

37 Sabah Times (Jesselton), 09 8, 1966Google ScholarPubMed. See also Reuter's despatch, Medan, November 16, 1966.

38 The New China News Agency, quoting Chinese repatriates, accused the Indonesian government of having allowed Indonesian “thugs” in Lhokseumawe, in Atjeh, to pour melted asphalt on the heads and bodies of the Chinese and subject them to other insults and indignities. Sabah Times, October 17, 1966.

39 Antara Daily News Bulletin, February 4, 1967.

40 Ibid., June 12, 1967.

41 Peking Review, April 7, 1967, p. 37.

42 The Straits Times, March 30, 1967.

43 Ibid., April 17, 1967, and Peking Review, April 14, 1967, p. 30.

44 The Djakarta Times, April 24, 1967.

45 The Straits Times, May 2, 1967.

46 Ibid., May 8, 10, 1967.

47 Jen-min Jih-pao (People's Daily), October 20, 1965, and Pravda, October 20, 1965. See also Glaubitz, Joachim, “Die Vorgänge in Indonesien und Ihr Echo in Peking und Moskau,” Berichte des Bundesinstituts zur Erforschung des Marxismus-Lenin-ismus, III (03 1966), No. 1, pp. 11–12Google Scholar.

48 de Crespigny, Rafe, “Chinese Newspaper Reports of the Changes in Indonesia, September to December, 1965,” Australian Outlook, XX (1966), p. 197Google Scholar.

49 Berita Yudha (Jakarta), 12 2, 1965Google Scholar.

50 Peking Review, January 21, 1966, p. 4, and January 28, 1966, p. 4.

51 Antara Daily News Bulletin, February 1, 1966.

52 Cited ibid., February 14, 1966.

53 For details of this anti-Sukarno drive and its effects see my “Sukarno's Fall,” Orbis, summer 1967, pp. 494–531.

54 Peking Review, April 22, 1966, p. 9.

55 Antara Daily News Bulletin, January 9 and February 18, 1967.

56 Peking Review, March 10, 1967, p. 39, and March 24, 1967, p. 30.

57 The Djakarta Times, June 17, 1967.

58 NCNA, International Service, Peking, August 5, 1967.

59 Sinar Harapan, July 19, 1967 and The Djakarta Times, July 20 and 26, 1967.

60 Warta Berita, September 13, 1967, Reuter's, despatches, Jakarta, August 23 and 28, 1967, and The Straits Times, 09 5, 12, 14 and 15, 1967Google Scholar.

61 NCNA, International Service, Peking, September 24, 1967.

62 Far Eastern Economic Review, September 29, 1966, p. 629.

63 On the question of the seating of Communist China in the United Nations, Indonesia, on November 28, 1967 voted in favour of the proposal declaring the seating an “important matter” and also in favour of the resolution to seat People's China and expel the Republic of China. Ch. Anwar Sani, of the Indonesian delegation to the UN, during his address on November 27, 1967 at the UN, excoriated what he termed People's China's “provocations, insults and subversive activities” against Indonesia, and also accused the Peking government of having attempted, through its Embassy in Jakarta, to exploit the Chinese in Indonesia.

64 The Straits Times, September 16, 1967.

65 In November 1967, Indonesian authorities announced arrests of several members of a new “underground Communist military force” in Indonesia, “established with the assistance of the People's Republic of China,” whose members allegedly included several Chinese nationals in Indonesia. Indeed a “major of the Chinese Army” as well as several other Chinese Communist military were apprehended in connection with the arrests of underground Communists at the same time. In January 1968 the Indonesian Ambassador to Thailand, Major-General Ahmad Jusuf, charged Peking with sending its nationals to Indonesia in an attempt to overthrow the Suharto government. Anlara Daily News Bulletin, November 21, 1967, November 24, 1967, and January 10, 1968.