Chinese-Indonesian Governor’s Struggles Worry Some in His Ethnic Group
The race for governor of Jakarta has consumed Indonesia’s ethnic Chinese, who are divided about whether
Mr. Basuki, known universally by his Hakka Chinese nickname, Ahok, is good or bad for them.
"He’s nationalist while also being Chinese." In previous campaigns, Mr. Basuki wore traditional Chinese dress
and even referred to ethnic Chinese as being "pork lard-faced" to make light of ethnic differences.
Christine Susanna Tjhin, a senior researcher at the Center for Strategic
and International Studies, said the fake news might be intended to target Chinese-Indonesians even though a majority "are actually quite disconnected from mainland Chinese," in part because of decades of Suharto government assimilation policies.
Tobias Basuki, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, said one reason
that Jakarta’s governor was polarizing was that he freely expressed his Chinese cultural identity, whereas most other Chinese-Indonesian politicians were more discreet.
For three decades during the Suharto years, Chinese-Indonesians were accused of being in league with the Chinese government
and forbidden to study at Chinese-language schools or publicly celebrate Chinese holidays.
Chinese said that all need good relations with China for various projects in the region,
so they, I would assume, understand the importance of protecting their eth