Chung Hwa Hui (CHH; ) was a conservative, largely pro-Dutch political organization and party in the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
(today
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
), often criticised as a mouthpiece of the
colonial Chinese establishment.
The party campaigned for legal equality between the colony's
ethnic Chinese subjects and Europeans, and advocated ethnic Chinese political participation in the Dutch colonial state.
The CHH was led by scions of the '
Cabang Atas
The Cabang Atas (''Van Ophuijsen Spelling System'': Tjabang Atas)—literally 'upper branch' in Indonesian language, Indonesian—was the traditional Chinese establishment or gentry of Dutch East Indies, colonial Indonesia. They were the families ...
' gentry, including its founding president,
H. H. Kan, and supported by ethnic Chinese conglomerates, such as the powerful
Kian Gwan multinational.
The party's close relationship with, and allegiance to, the Dutch colonial state is clearly demonstrated by the fact that CHH was represented in the
Volksraad The Volksraad was a people's assembly or legislature in Dutch or Afrikaans speaking government.
Assembly South Africa
* Volksraad (South African Republic) (1840–1902)
* Volksraad (Natalia Republic), a similar assembly that existed in the Natalia ...
– the embryonic legislature of the Dutch East Indies – all through the party's entire existence from 1928 until 1942.
In the study of colonial Chinese-Indonesian politics, CHH is most often contrasted with the so-called
Sin Po group, which called for loyalty to the pre-war
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, and the
Partai Tionghoa Indonesia
The Partai Tionghoa Indonesia (; ) was a left-wing political party in the Dutch East Indies during the Great Depression. Influenced by the growing Indonesian nationalist movement, it proposed a third way beyond the pro-China and pro-Dutch partie ...
(PTI: the 'Chinese-Indonesian Party'), which promoted ethnic Chinese participation in the
Indonesian nationalist movement and demanded Indonesian nationality for all Indonesians.
History

Founded in 1928 after preliminary congresses through 1926 and 1927, CHH was loosely associated with the eponymous
Chung Hwa Hui Nederland, a ''
Peranakan
The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (region), Nanyang (), namely the British Empire, British, Portugu ...
'' student association in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, established in 1911 in
Leiden
Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
.
Throughout its existence, CHH was dominated by its founding and only president H. H. Kan, a patrician doyen of the Cabang Atas.
Members of the party's founding executive committee consisted of other scions of the Cabang Atas, such as
Khouw Kim An, the 5th ''Majoor der Chinezen'' of Batavia,
Han Tiauw Tjong and
Loa Sek Hie
Loa Sek Hie Sia (1898, Batavia – 1965, The Hague) was a colonial Indonesian politician, parliamentarian and the founding ''Voorzitter'' or chairman of the controversial, ethnic-Chinese self-defense force Pao An Tui (1946–1949). He was a ''P ...
, or representatives of ethnic Chinese conglomerates, including , head of Kian Gwan, Asia's largest multinational at the time, and the Semarang business tycoon
Thio Thiam Tjong.
Due to its elitist leadership, CHH was referred to by critics as the 'Packard Club' after the expensive cars many of its leaders used.
The general membership of the political party was drawn largely from Dutch-educated, upper and
upper-middle class
In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term ''lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class strat ...
Peranakan circles.

Chung Hwa Hui was loyal to the Dutch East Indies and supported Indies nationality, but campaigned vigorously for legal equality with Europeans for the colony's Chinese subjects.
To this end, the party advocated ethnic Chinese participation in colonial Indonesian politics: until the
Japanese invasion in 1942, the majority of ethnic Chinese members of the Volksraad were CHH leaders.
H. H. Kan articulated in his Dutch
maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
to the Volksraad in 1918 a position that later came to define CHH:
"Our group is very thankful for all the improvements in the position of the Chinese thus far, but entire satisfaction can only come with complete legal equality with Europeans.
" though the Chinese population group...is still not completely satisfied, a large proportion of this group nevertheless values the steps taken to improve its position in society.
"I speak here of that vast majority, the practical and soberly thinking part of this industrious group, who...keeps its cool and fully realizes that the link with the former fatherland does not need to be broken in order to protect its own real interests in the country whose welfare is so closely tied to its own existence. Without having to renounce one's race, without having to be unfaithful to what has been called by an English writer 'the religion of the seed', each must consider it a duty to oneself and towards his fellow inhabitants to give his best for the progress of the country and for the improvement of the people, to whom also the Chinese are thankfully indebted".
Despite their conservative reputation, the party's Volksraad members, led by H. H. Kan, voted in favour of the
Soetardjo Petition
The Soetardjo Petition () was a motion of the Volksraad of the Dutch East Indies, instigated by the member Soetardjo Kartohadikusumo, which was submitted as a petition to Queen Wilhelmina and the Estates General of the Netherlands asking for ...
of 1936, widely seen as progressive, which requested Indonesian independence as part of a Dutch commonwealth under the
Dutch Monarchy
The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the country's charter and constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and abdication; the roles and duties of the monarch; the formalities of communica ...
.
CHH members in the Volksraad did, however, oppose widening the
electoral franchise for elections to the legislature to either more indigenous people (H. H. Kan) or to women (Loa Sek Hie).
They maintained an ambiguous, and sometimes dismissive, stance on the emancipation of Indonesia's
indigenous population
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
.

CHH's cultural outlook was both Peranakan and Dutch, as reflected in the party's two languages of communication:
Dutch
Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
** Dutch people as an ethnic group ()
** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship ()
** Dutch language ()
* In specific terms, i ...
and
Malay.
At the same time, the party – which used a
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...
name – also valorised the retention of ethnic Chinese heritage and ties to the ancestral land.
In keeping with CHH's political commitment to the Dutch East Indies, however, they also promoted the use of Dutch, instead of Chinese or Malay, as the language of instruction for ethnic Chinese education in the country.
In the historian
Leo Suryadinata
Leo Suryadinata (born Liauw Kian-Djoe r Liao Jianyu; 廖建裕in Jakarta, 21 February 1941) is an Indonesian-born Singaporean sinologist.
Early life
Suryadinata was born Liauw Kian-Djoe (also written Liao Jianyu) in Batavia, Netherlands Ind ...
's words, the party favoured a 'Peranakan Chinese culture with a Dutch flavour'.
Chung Hwa Hui's close identification with the Dutch colonial state drew the criticism of many in the Chinese-Indonesian community and beyond, in particular reformist voices more sympathetic to the Indonesian nationalist movement and indigenous Indonesian emancipation.
Sukarno
Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.
Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...
, later first
President of Indonesia
The president of the Republic of Indonesia () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president is the leader of the executive branch of the Indonesian government and the commander-in-chief of the ...
, mocked the party as the 'yellow Vaderlandsche Club' in reference to an ultra-right wing Dutch colonial organisation of diehard 'imperialists'.
In 1932, this dissatisfaction with CHH within the Chinese-Indonesian community resulted in the founding of an opposition, pro-Indonesian party, Partai Tionghoa Indonesia, led by the leftwing newspaper men and progressive activists
Liem Koen Hian
Liem Koen Hian (林群賢) (3 November 1897 – 4 November 1952) was an Indonesian journalist and politician. He was born in Banjarmasin, the son of a local Peranakan-Hakka Chinese business owner, Liem Ke An. He attended the Hollands-Chineesche ...
,
Kwee Thiam Tjing
Kwee Thiam Tjing Sia (February 9, 1900 – May 28, 1974), also known by his pen name Tjamboek Bērdoeri Thorn Whip' was a prominent Indonesian writer, journalist and left-wing political activist. He is best remembered for his 1947 book, ' Indon ...
,
Ong Liang Kok and
Ko Kwat Tiong.
The new PTI gained the support of parts of lower and middle class Peranakan society, and won a seat in
1935 election to the Volksraad, though without ever challenging CHH's overall majority in the legislature's ethnic Chinese ranks.
Even within CHH, nonetheless, the party hierarchy's pro-establishment views were challenged by the
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...
-educated lawyer
Phoa Liong Gie
Phoa Liong Gie Sia (: born in Bandung on June 4, 1905 – died on January 14, 1983, in Switzerland) was an Indonesian-born Swiss jurist, politician and newspaper owner of the late colonial era in the Dutch East Indies.
Background and education
...
, leader of CHH's more progressive youth wing.
Phoa, who indicated a willingness to support the Indonesian nationalist movement, resigned from CHH in 1934, citing H. H. Kan's dominance of the party; and was appointed to the Volksraad in 1939 as an
independent member.
CHH's elitist reputation alienated others, even in Dutch-educated circles, such as another Leiden alumnus and lawyer,
Yap Thiam Hien
John Yap Thiam Hien (25May 191325April 1989) was an Indonesian human rights lawyer.
Life
Born in Kutaraja, Aceh, Dutch East Indies, his father was Yap Sin Eng and his mother was Hwan Tjing Nio. Yap's family, living in genteel but reduced circ ...
, later a human rights activist, whom CHH attempted to recruit as a member, but who refused due to his reservations about the party's elitist and moneyed profile.
CHH was disbanded following the Japanese invasion of 1942 as part of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
During the
Indonesian revolution
The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during p ...
of 1945–1950 that followed the end of the war, CHH's surviving membership rallied around former CHH leader Thio Thiam Tjong, who in 1948 founded ''Persatoean Tionghoa'' (the 'Chinese Union'), called from 1950 onwards
Partai Demokrat Tionghoa Indonesia (PDTI: the 'Chinese Indonesian Democratic Party').
The new outfit was, in effect, the institutional heir to Chung Hwa Hui's political and social legacy.
What was seen as the new party's CHH heritage, pro-colonial legacy and pro-western stance did not bode well for PDTI, which came to be regarded as irrelevant in post-revolutionary and increasingly anti-western Indonesia.
PDTI never received much electoral support, and was eventually disbanded in 1965 with the military coup of
General Soeharto and the end of all semblance of parliamentary democracy.
See also
*
Volkraad
*
Partai Tionghoa Indonesia
The Partai Tionghoa Indonesia (; ) was a left-wing political party in the Dutch East Indies during the Great Depression. Influenced by the growing Indonesian nationalist movement, it proposed a third way beyond the pro-China and pro-Dutch partie ...
*
H. H. Kan
*
Khouw Kim An
Khouw Kim An, 5th Majoor der Chinezen (; 1875 – February 13, 1945) was a high-ranking Chinese Indonesian bureaucrat, public figure and landlord who served as the fifth and last ''Majoor der Chinezen'' ("Major of the Chinese") of Batavia, Dut ...
, Majoor der Chinezen
*
Loa Sek Hie
Loa Sek Hie Sia (1898, Batavia – 1965, The Hague) was a colonial Indonesian politician, parliamentarian and the founding ''Voorzitter'' or chairman of the controversial, ethnic-Chinese self-defense force Pao An Tui (1946–1949). He was a ''P ...
*
Phoa Liong Gie
Phoa Liong Gie Sia (: born in Bandung on June 4, 1905 – died on January 14, 1983, in Switzerland) was an Indonesian-born Swiss jurist, politician and newspaper owner of the late colonial era in the Dutch East Indies.
Background and education
...
*
Cabang Atas
The Cabang Atas (''Van Ophuijsen Spelling System'': Tjabang Atas)—literally 'upper branch' in Indonesian language, Indonesian—was the traditional Chinese establishment or gentry of Dutch East Indies, colonial Indonesia. They were the families ...
*
Kian Gwan
References
{{Authority control
Political parties in the Dutch East Indies
Defunct political parties in Indonesia
Political parties established in 1928
Political parties disestablished in 1942
1942 disestablishments in the Dutch East Indies
1928 establishments in the Dutch East Indies
Cabang Atas