This is the second of two articles examining the meaning of

This is the second of two articles examining the meaning of
the age-old term of "overseas Chinese" in the post Cold War era.

By Lie Tek Tjeng

JAKARTA (JP): The People's Republic of China (PRC) that came
into existence in 1949 realized that maintaining the traditional
Chinese claim on all ethnic Chinese, particularly in Southeast
Asia, could only bring it into conflicts with others in the
region, something it could not afford while facing the American
containment and a growing rift with the USSR.

Zhou Enlai, the prime minister of the time, made a wise
decision at the Bandung Conference in 1955, when he signed a dual
nationality treaty with Indonesia. Under this treaty, China
renounced its claim on ethnic Chinese who relinquish their
Chinese citizenship and request Indonesian citizenship. By
signing this treaty, the PRC proved to be the first, and until
nowadays the only, Chinese government that has accepted this
principle. To the knowledge of the author, the nationalist
government in Taiwan has not yet done so.

Furthermore, the Beijing government also used the following
terms to indicate different groups of people: (1) Citizens of the
PRC are called chungguojen (literally meaning "Chinese people"),
or chungguo guong ming ("Chinese citizen"). (2) Those living on
temporarily estranged Chinese territories, such as Taiwan, Hong
Kong and Macao, are called tungbao (literally meaning "fellow
compatriots"). (3) Ethnic Chinese who still retain their Chinese
citizenship and are living abroad, outside Chinese territories,
are called huachiao ("overseas Chinese"). (4) Ethnic Chinese who
have relinquished their Chinese citizenship and have adopted
citizenship of another country are called huajen (literally
meaning "Chinese people"). This term could be best translated as
"ethnic Chinese." Thus, the emergence of the term "ethnic
Chinese", which, unlike the term "overseas Chinese." This new
term was not used in colonial times and does not carry the
political implication of Chinese citizenship.

Unfortunately, this policy, which is the correct one, has not
yet been popularized among Chinese scholars and the mass media
people. Many of them still continue to use the term huachiao
("overseas Chinese") with all its ambiguity and confusion.

These Chinese scholars and journalists are not the only ones
guilty of using the term huachiao erroneously. Many western
scholars are in error as well. Worse, these people are usually
considered "objective" and "scientific" in their views, and they
are often quoted all over the world.

As an illustration, the internationally respected and widely
read The Economist has devoted several issues to the so-called
"overseas Chinese" problem. An article entitled The overseas
Chinese (July 18, 1992) lumped together the 21 million people in
Taiwan and the six million in Hong Kong as "overseas Chinese."
Thus, with the addition of other Chinese, elsewhere, arriving at
the figure of 55 million "overseas Chinese" that could be
mobilized by Beijing.

When I discussed this with colleagues both at home and abroad,
the reaction was: "The West opposes the unification of Taiwan and
Hong Kong with the mainland since this will accelerate the
economic development of the PRC that could pose a major threat to
Asia, if not the world."

When I once remarked that many western scholars and mass media
people seem to be rather slow in realizing the basic changes
regarding this problem and its full implications, I received a
cynical reaction: "Don't you believe it. They know damned well
that a basic change has taken place, but they do not want to
recognize it because they don't like the implications. The
objective of most of their writing is to keep alive the
suspicions of Southeast Asians towards both the PRC and their
ethnic Chinese citizens."

If there were a harmonious relationship between the PRC and
Southeast Asia, it could lead to a decrease in the role of the
West in Asia, and many do not want to see this happen. Also, if
there are harmonious relations between native Southeast Asians
and their ethnic Chinese citizens, this will diminish, if not
eliminate, the role of the white man in Southeast Asia.

The West will help lower racial tensions in Southeast Asia
only when it impedes necessary and advantageous economic
developments. However, the West is not going to try to eradicate
racial tension if it will reduce or even eliminate its presence
and influence in the region. It is a fact that until now native
Southeast Asians and ethnic Chinese in the region trust the white
man more than they trust each other.

Supposing that the above analysis is not completely wrong,
then I would like to make the following suggestions that could
eliminate the confusion caused by the indiscriminate use of the
term "overseas Chinese" that has caused much of the problem:

(1) What in colonial times was known as the "overseas Chinese
problem" should in independent Southeast Asia be called the
"ethnic Chinese problem", since it deals with all ethnic Chinese
regardless of their citizenship. (2) The term "overseas Chinese"
should only mean "ethnic Chinese that have retained their Chinese
citizenship", and it should exclude ethnic Chinese that have
adopted Southeast Asian citizenship in countries such as
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. (3) The term "ethnic
Chinese" should be used for all people with Chinese blood,
regardless of their citizenship.

Dr. Lie Tek Tjeng is a senior research specialist at the
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jakarta.