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.