Anti-Chinese Riots
Whenever there is a crisis in Indonesia, that country has a ready target for its frustrations. The scapegoat is the Chinese minority of three million persons. By dint of industry and ingenuity, Chinese are better off than the average Indonesians.
Despite large amounts of foreign aid from the United States and the Soviet Union, the Indonesian economy is again on the brink of bankruptcy. The Chinese were in for trouble beginning in May.
Organized mobsters burned cars, wrecked shops, and laid ruin to everything belonging to the Chinese. The riots began at Bandung and nearby Sumedang in West Java. The wave of violence soon spread to Jakarta, East Java cities, Sumatra, and even Indonesian Borneo.
The troubles are said to have begun in Tjeribon, about a day's journey east of Jakarta, when an Indonesian youth was convicted and imprisoned by a judge of Chinese extraction in the death of a youth, also of Chinese ancestry. Denials notwithstanding, Sukarno's son was reported involved in the rioting.
In the early stage of violence, Jakarta clamped down a news blackout. When the situation got out of control, the Indonesian government officially "condemned" the rioters but did nothing much to stop them.
As anti-Chinese riots tapered off toward the end of May, incomplete reports said some 3,000 Indonesians of Chinese descent were homeless in the West Java city of Sukarbumi.
The local chief of the Economic Operation Command, Irawa Bratakusumah, was quoted by the government-controlled Antara News Agency as saying the riots had caused "miserable conditions".
Bratakusumah estimated the riots had crippled 90 per cent of the economic activities of Sukarbumi, destroyed 70 per cent of transport facilities and two-thirds of the city's shops and restaurants.
Press reports said 2,000 Chinese-owned shops, about 100 vehicles and 300 houses were destroyed.
Other reports told of suffering in several other West Java cities. Large quantities of vegetables and other foodstuffs were said to be rotting for lack of transportation.
Twenty thousand Chinese were said to have been uprooted from their homes in the wake of the incidents, which resulted in destruction of 60 to 80 per cent of Chinese-owned property.
Both Sukarno and the Indonesian Communists blamed "counter-revolutionaries" 'and an imaginary "foreign power" for the race riots. The Indonesian dictator said the riots were aimed at overthrowing him.
The accusation was not convincing. The man who had himself declared president for life embarked on another pleasure junket abroad while the mobsters were still running wild.
Ma Shu-li, a former newspaper publisher in Jakarta and a member of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, said the economy of wealthy Indonesia would be in good shape, if it were not for Sukarno's communistic economic measures and his left-leaning foreign policy. The recent visit of Liu Shao-chi directed the hatred of the Indonesian people against the hapless Chinese, the ex-publisher declared.
Ma, who was imprisoned by the Jakarta authorities on trumped-up charges and later expelled, called on the Indonesian people to distinguish between friend and foe. Their real enemies are Sukarno and the Communists, he said. Therefore, they should overthrow dictatorship and resist Communist infiltration to save themselves and their country.
Taipei
Appeal for Justice
A wave of indignation sweptTaiwan as Indonesian hoodlums attacked Chinese. By contrast, the Chinese Communists—befriended by Sukarno—had little to say.
Foreign affairs spokesman Patrick Pichi Sun said at a press conference that the Chinese government considers the situation "a most serious one."
"These riots which are spreading from West Java to other areas of Indonesia have already resulted in the loss of life and property among the Chinese residents and threatened their very existence in Indonesia."
"That these riots represent an organized racist campaign directed specifically against the Chinese in Indonesia is obvious," he said.
The Chinese government deplores the fact that the Jakarta government took no effective measures to curb "such lawless and irresponsible acts of violence against the defenseless people," he added.
Noting that the Republic of China and Indonesia have no diplomatic relations, Sun said the Chinese government is trying to help the Chinese residents through various international channels.
At a meeting between the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission and other interested government agencies, it was decided that the government would appeal to the free world to check the anti-Chinese riots. The Jakarta government was called upon to protect the life and property of the overseas Chinese and to compensate victims in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles.
The Chinese government should appeal the case to international justice if the Indonesian government failed to check the mobs immediately, the conferees decided.
Kao Hsin, chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, said the Taiwan Provincial Government has agreed to provide land in Taitung for cultivation by repatriates from Indonesia. The land, which is good for growing various fruits, will be reserved for Chinese from Indonesia in case the situation deteriorates further, he said.
Scholarships and Rewards
The Federation of Overseas Associations has decided to offer 40 scholarships to overseas Chinese students studying in Taiwan and four cultural awards to outstanding Chinese artists and scholars abroad.
Scholarships will be given to students with high grades who have received no other grants or scholarships. Each scholarship is worth US$50.
The awards will be for literary, artistic, and scientific works concerned with overseas Chinese problems. The awards are for US$125 each.
Applications for scholarships should be sent to the Federation no later than November 11, while applications for the cultural awards must be submitted between July 1 and October 21.
Correspondence School
The Overseas Chinese Correspondence School will open its new term September 1 with a quota of 10,000 students.
The school, which offers one-year courses for overseas Chinese, has decided to include more vocational subjects.
Aside from humanities, the school will provide training in teaching, agriculture, industry, commerce and home economics. The emphasis on vocational training is part of an effort to help Chinese residents abroad adapt to changing economic condition in their countries of domicile.
Lessons will be mailed to students monthly. Corrected papers of the preceding lesson will be mailed at the same time.
Application for admission should be sent to the school between June 1 and July 31.
Philippines
Charges Dismissed
Secretary of Justice Juan R. Liwag has dismissed charges against the Chinese-language newspaper Great China Press in connection with two cartoons and 12 articles allegedly defamatory to the Philippines government and people.
Liwag said explanations of the Great China Press were satisfactory.
Still pending is a case involving publication of a cartoon on October 22, 1959. It shows two litigants arguing heatedly before a judge. One litigant has a pocketful of unidentified paper currency and the other has a bagful of U.S. dollars. The caption reads: "When the crane and the clam contend, the fisherman will catch them both."
The Great China Press recently submitted two memoranda to the deportation board. It said the paper's policy is to promote Chinese-Filipino relations, and that the cartoons and articles are not anti-Filipino.
Help Requested
On another occasion, Justice Secretary Liwag urged Chinese nationals to help the Philippine government weed out corrupt officials.
Speaking before the Filipino-China Society at Virac, Catanduanes Island, Liwag asked the cooperation of its members in establishing clean and honest government. He especially urged that Chinese copra and hemp dealers help maintain Filipino-Chinese relations based on dignity and honor.
Liwag said the Chinese community could be of invaluable assistance in cleansing the government by denouncing any official who dares attempt blackmail and extortion.
He said he is confident that Filipinos and Chinese can live in harmony and join hands in lifting the socio-economic status of the country.
United States
President's Accolade
At the height of the refugee exodus from the Chinese mainland last year, President John F. Kennedy ordered the admission of a limited number to the United States. Less than a year later the new arrivals have made themselves "good American citizens," the President said.
Kennedy made the statement May 24 before some 60 officials of the Chinese Refugee Relief headed by Mrs. Claire Chennault and representatives of Chinese communities from various parts of the country.
He said the American people have been "impressed with the quality of our new citizens," and by the "impressive record" of the refugees.
He added, "We hope to hold open the door for others, realizing that only a fraction of those who wanted to come to America have been admitted."
As to the Chinese communities in the United States, Kennedy praised them for contributing much to the newcomers. Speaking of Chinese contributions to American national life, he said he knew from personal experience those made in Boston, his home town.
Charity Dinner
On the day President Kennedy voiced his sentiments about Chinese in the United States, more than 600 Americans, each paying $25 a plate, attended a dinner sponsored by Chinese Refugee Relief to raise funds for refugee vocational training centers in Taiwan and Hongkong.
The dinner, with Chinese food served Western style, was held under the stars at Washington's Shoreham Hotel. It opened with a speech of welcome by Mrs. Clare Chennault, head of the organization and the widow of General Chennault of Flying Tigers fame, and ended with entertainment by movie and television stars. Arthur Godfrey was master of ceremonies.
Mrs. Chennault praised the generosity of the American government and people. Senator John Tower, who recently visited Taiwan and Hongkong, said American assistance to Chinese refugees signifies U.S. realization of its responsibilities. "It is our duty to help these people to help themselves, and to show the captive peoples of the world that we have not abandoned them," he said, adding that the Chinese people have "exemplified the magnificence of the human spirit."
Senator Hiram Fong from Hawaii, the first American of Chinese descent to be elected to the Senate, stressed the long-range importance of Congressional enactment of more liberal quotas for Oriental immigrants. He said some circles fear an increase in the number of persons of Oriental ancestry would "upset the cultural and historical pattern of American life."
He cited figures from the 1960 census to show this fear was groundless. The census showed only about 3/5 of 1 per cent of the American population was of Oriental or Polynesian extraction.
Fong praised Chinese immigrants, describing them as "an industrious, law-abiding people." Americans of Chinese descent "have added significantly to the development, growth, and progress of our country, probably in far greater proportion than their small number would indicate," he said.
The Senator cited many examples to support his statement. "Many of their most ancient traditions such as family devotion and honor, veneration of their elders, and respect for the virtues of learning and education have served our communities well." Moreover, he said, Chinese immigrants perform a special mission in behalf of America by serving as a bridge of understanding and friendship between East and West.
Other notables attending the dinner were Senator Everett Dirksen, Senator Hubert Humphrey, Ambassador and Mrs. Tingfu Tsiang, and Mrs. John Logan, wife of the former American ambassador to Portugal.
Pledge of Support
The National Chinese Welfare Council at San Francisco has renewed its pledge of unreserved support for the anti-Communist policy of the Chinese and American governments, and has urged every Chinese resident of the United States to do his best in fighting Communism.
The council, highest representative body of the Chinese communities in the United States, made the pledge and appeal at the conclusion of a five-day Honolulu convention in May.
"The two countries now are inseparable on the broad anti-Communist front of the free world," the manifesto said. "They are the hope of the suffering millions behind the Iron Curtain. They are the light that will lead those people to shake off their shackles and regain their freedom."
The manifesto also pledged to:
1. Work for Congressional enactment of immigration laws favoring Chinese migrants and refugees.
2. Promote higher Chinese education for the younger generation in the United States.
3. Unify Chinese communities of the United States.
According to the most recent survey, there are 237,000 Chinese in the United States. The largest group of 95,000 lives in California.
Remaining Chinese population is distributed as follows: 55,463 in New York state; 38,180 in Hawaii, 7,000 in Illinois, 5,490 in Washington and 5,420 in Massachusetts.
The largest city concentration is in San Francisco, where 36,455 reside.
Despite vocational diversification, Chinese are still most active in the laundry business. There are more than 10,000 laundries. Next on the list are 4,000 restaurants. In California, more than 600 warehouses and supermarkets are owned by Chinese.