Suchergebnisse

Together with Chinese schools and newspapers, voluntary associations (shetuan) have long been regarded as one of the "three pillars" of Overseas Chinese societies, playing an important role in the evolution of Chinese diaspora communities. As such they have been extensively studied and documented, and this broad range of works lays the foundation for our knowledge of the subject. The existing literature, however, seems predominantly concerned withshetuan's political and socio-cultural activities in domestic settings and within the national boundaries. Little attention has been paid to questions of why and how Chinese voluntary associations operate and function in a cross-national and inter-regional environment and what effects those transnational movements have had on the socio-economic conditions ofqiaoxiang, the ancestral hometowns of the Chinese diaspora. Correspondingly, there has been insufficient appreciation of the intimate and institutionalized links betweenshetuan's increasing and conspicuous international presence and the flourishing Chinese business networks, often characterized as informal relationships based on personal and family ties.

Throughout Sukarno's long and colourful political career, China constituted one of the central objects in his construction of the outside world. What did the PRC stand for in his intellectual and political imagination? How relevant was Sukarno's China perception to the evolution of his own socio-political thought? This paper suggests that Sukarno's favourable view of the PRC reflected more of his predispositions about Indonesia than it did Chinese realities. China as seen through Sukarno's eyes became the point of reference for both intellectual judgement and political thinking. Furthermore, Sukarno employed his perception of China as a cultural metaphor, social symbol, and political model in his drive to establish and consolidate the Guided Democracy regime.