Government to review anti-Chinese policies

Government to review anti-Chinese policies

JAKARTA (JP): The government pledged on Wednesday to review
laws, government regulations and all discriminative policies
against ethnic Chinese.

At least 13 government regulations and one presidential decree
will be reviewed, with Minister of Home Affairs Surjadi Soedirja
and Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra assigned
to study the technical aspects of the policies.

"They will make the follow-up details, including which laws
can be neutralized at the moment," Coordinating Minister for
Political Affairs and Security Gen. Wiranto told journalists
following a Cabinet meeting.

During his visit to Beijing early in December, President
Abdurrahman Wahid assured Chinese President Jiang Zemin that
Jakarta was committed to fair and equal treatment for all and
called on Indonesians of Chinese descent who fled the country to
return.

Jakarta and Beijing resumed diplomatic ties in 1990 after
being frozen since 1967 following an abortive communist coup
which Indonesia claimed at the time involved China.

Chinese-Indonesians have often complained that the government
treats them as second-class citizens. Careers for ethnic Chinese
in the military and government bureaucracy are often limited if
not altogether closed to them.

Among the various discriminative policies regularly cited are
the banning of publications and advertisements using Chinese
characters, and Presidential Instruction No. 14/1967 on Chinese
religions, beliefs and traditions.

Others include the Minister of Home Affairs Instruction No.
455.2-360/1968 on the arrangement of Chinese temples; the Jakarta
City Regulation on family registration cards, Cabinet presidium
circular letter No. 6, in 1967, on the change in the usage of
Tiongkok and Tionghoa -- both meaning Chinese -- to Cina.

Ampera Presidium Cabinet decree No. 127, in 1966, requires
Chinese-Indonesians to adopt Indonesian names.

Ethnic Chinese make up only about 4 percent of Indonesia's 210
million people but are regarded as controlling much of the
country's wealth. (prb)