This is a revised version of a chapter from my doctoral dissertation, “‘The China Metaphor’: Indonesian Intellectuals and the PRC, 1949–1965” (Ohio University, 1995). I am indebted to William H. Frederick for his constructive and thorough comments. Charles Alexander, Donald Jordan, Benedict Anderson, Go Gien Tjwan, Kent Mulliner, Ng Chin-keong, Kohar Rony, Mary Somers-Heidhues, Yong Mun Cheong, and Tsing Yuan have been helpful in shaping my understanding of the complex questions relating to China in Indonesia, for which I am grateful. Financial support for my overseas research was provided by a fellowship from the Center for International Studies at Ohio University and a grant from the Southeast Asian Council of the Association for Asian Studies, both funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. A major portion of this paper, entitled “Sukarno's China: Metaphor, Symbol, and Model”, was presented at a talk jointly organized by the Island Society and the South Seas Society in Singapore on 14 August 1996. I am thankful to Associate Professor Tan Eng Chaw and Dr Gwee Yee Hean, presidents of these two organizations, for giving me the opportunity to report my findings to an interested audience, and to Dr Cheng Lim-Keak and Dr Wong Sin Kiong for their useful comments. Needless to say, I alone am responsible for the views expressed here and any remaining errors.

¹ See for example, Legge, John D., Sukarno: A Political Biography (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1990 [1972])Google Scholar; Dahm, Bernhard, Sukarno and the Struggle for Indonesian Independence, trans. Somers-Heidhues, Mary (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1969)Google Scholar; Penders, C.L., The Life and Times of Sukarno (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1974)Google Scholar; Mc lntyre, Angus, “Sukarno as Artist- Politician”, in Indonesian Political Biography: In Search of Cross-Cultural Understanding, ed. Mclntyre, Angus (Clayton: Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1993), pp. 161–210Google Scholar; and Salam, Solichin, Bung Karno: Putera Fajar (Jakarta: Gunung Agung, 1981).Google Scholar

² Feith, Herbert, The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1962)Google Scholar; and Lev, Daniel, The Transition to Guided Democracy: Indonesian Politics, 1957- 1959 (Ithaca: Cornell University Modern Indonesian Project, 1966).Google Scholar

³ Feith, Herbert, “Introduction”, in Indonesian Political Thinking, 1945–1965, ed. Feith, and Lev, Daniel (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1970), pp. 1–24.Google Scholar

⁴ Agung, Ide Anak Agung Gde, Twenty Years Indonesian Foreign Policy, 1945–1965 (Yogyakarta: Duta Wacana University Press, 1990 [1972]), p. 251.Google Scholar

⁵ Kahin, George M., “Indonesia”, in Major Governments of Asia, ed. Kahin, (Ithaca: Cornell Unversity Press, 1963), p. 638.Google Scholar

⁶ See for example the criticisms of Kahin's view regarding the impact of China upon Sukarno, in Ghoshal, Baladas, Indonesian Politics 1955–59: The Emergence of Guided Democracy (Calcutta: K.P. Bagchi, 1982), pp. 95–96.Google Scholar

⁷ Sukarno, , Indonesia Accuses, ed. and trans. Paget, Roger K. (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1975), p. 17.Google Scholar

⁸ On writings about China published in Indonesia prior to 1950, see Salmon, Claudine, Literature in Malay by the Chinese of Indonesia: A Provisional Annotated Bibliography (Paris: Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1981), pp. 66–67, 75–76Google Scholar; Beng, Kwee Kek, Doea Poeloe Lima Tahoen Sebagai Wartawan, 1922–1947 (Batavia: Kuo, 1948), pp. 32–43Google Scholar; Wenhua, Wu and Meifeng, Gan, “Benshiji Sanshi dao Wushi Niandai Huawen Tushu zai Yinni” [Chinese books in Indonesia from the 1930s to the 1950s], Dongnanya Zongheng 3 (1993): 41–46.Google Scholar

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¹⁰ Kwee Kek Beng, Doea Poeloe Lima, p. 35; Yuanyuan, Hong [Ang Goan Jan], Hong Yuanyuan Zizhuan [An autobiography of Hong Yuanyuan]. Translated from the unpublished English manuscript by Yingming, Liang (Beijing: Zhongguo Huaqiao Chuban Gongsi, 1989), p. 79.Google Scholar

¹¹ Sukarno, , “Indonesianism and Pan Asianism” (1928), in idem., Under the Banner of Revolution, vol. 1 (Jakarta: Publication Committee, 1966), pp. 67–71.Google Scholar

¹² Sukarno, , Nationalism, Islam and Marxism (Ithaca: Cornell University Modern Indonesian Project, 1984 [1926]), p. 43; Sukarno, Indonesia Accuses, p. 55; and Sin Min (Semarang), 14 Nov. 1956.Google Scholar

¹³ Sukarno, , “The Birth of Pantja Sila” (1945), in Pantja Sila: The Basis of the State of the Republic of Indonesia (Jakarta: Department of Information, 1964), p. 27. According to Bernhard Danm, “it was quite possible that the San Min Chu I [Three People's Principles] was a model for the idea of Pantja Sila”. See his Sukarno, p. 339.Google Scholar

¹⁴ Bernhard Dahm suggests that Sukarno's call for unlimited cooperation among all Asian peoples was “no doubt under the influence of Sun Yat-sen”, see Dahm, Sukarno, pp. 115–16.

¹⁵ Sukarno, “Indonesianism and Pan Asianism”, p. 67.

¹⁶ Ibid.; Osman, Raliby, Documenta Historica, vol. 1 (Jakarta: Bulan-Bintang, 1953), p. 213; and Merdeka, 10 Jun. 1946.Google Scholar

¹⁷ Sukarno, Nationalism, Islam and Marxism, pp. 40–41, 43, 58, 60.

¹⁸ This information on Sukarno's view of New Democracy is provided by Mr Soeto Mei-sen, Sukarno's personal assistant on China affairs and his Chinese interpreter (interview in Hong Kong, 10 May 1994). According to him, Sukarno's understanding of Chinese political system was very much influenced by Barioen's Melihat Twngkok Baru (Jakarta: Rada, 1952),Google Scholar which paints China in a favourable populist light. For a more detailed discussion of Indonesian intellectuals' views of Chinese politics, including New Democracy, see Liu, “The China Metaphor”, Chapter 3.

¹⁹ Cited in Howie, R., “Sino-Indonesian Relations, 1950–1959: A Study of the Chinese People's Republic's Policy towards a Non-Communist State in South East Asia” (M.A. thesis, University of Western Australia, 1966), pp. 109–110.Google Scholar

²⁰ Interview with Lishui, Chen, the Indonesian interpreter for Chinese ambassadors throughout the 1950s, who met with Sukarno on many formal and informal occasions (Beijing, 23 Jun. 1994).Google Scholar

²¹ Lin, Zhu, Dashi Furen Huiyilu: Xunyali, Yinni, Faguo, Meiguo [Memoirs of an ambassador's wife: Hungary, Indonesia, France, and the USA] (Beijing: Shijie Zhishi Chubanshe, 1991), p. 44Google Scholar; and Zhongming, Yao, et al., Jiangjun, Waijiaojia, Yishujia-Huang Zhen Jilian Wenji [General, diplomat, and artist — A collection of articles in commemorating Huang Zhen] (Beijing: Jiefangjun Chubanshe, 1992), pp. 342–43.Google Scholar

²² Zhu Lin, Dashi, pp. 63–64.

²³ Huang graduated from the prestigious Shanghai Art Academy before joining the CCP. At the request of Sukarno in 1958, China extended Huang's tenure as the ambassador for three additional years. This was unprecedented in the diplomatic practice of both China and Indonesia. See Yao Zhongming, Jiangjun, pp. 341–43,361. On Sukarno's artistic sensibility and its political implications, see Angus McIntyre, “Sukarno as Artist-Politician”, pp. 161–210.

²⁴ Yao Zhongming, Jiangjun, pp. 633–34; Zhu Lin, Dashi, p. 64; and Mozingo, David, Chinese Policy toward Indonesia, 1949–1967 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1976), p. 150.Google Scholar

²⁵ Interview with Lishui, Chen (Beijing, 23 Jun. 1994).Google Scholar

²⁶ See for details in Keith, Ronald C., The Diplomacy of Zhou Enlai (London: Macmillan, 1989), pp. 80–87; and Mozingo, Chinese Policy toward Indonesia, Chapter 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

²⁷ Interviews with Soeto Mei-sen and Chen Lishui. Willard A. Hanna's contention that China extended an invitation to Sukarno after he had been invited by the United States and the Soviet Union is mistaken. See “Sukarno: The Devolution of a Revolutionary”, in his Eight Nation Makers (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1964), p. 71.Google Scholar

²⁸ John D. Legge points out, “the end of 1956 marks a turning point in Sukarno's political career”, Sukarno, p. 271. Willard A. Hanna concurs, “for both Sukarno and for Indonesia, the year 1956 was by far the most critical since 1945. It was a year of chaos, when every individual national leader was privately and publicly seeking for the 'way out', but everybody blocked everybody else's exit. In the past Bung Karno had always provided the nation with the formulas which inspired action, but in 1956 Bung Karno, like everyone else, seemed to be baffled”. “Sukarno: The Devolution of a Revolutionary”, p. 70.

²⁹ Quoted in Harsono, Ganis, Recollections of an Indonesian Diplomat in the Sukarno Era (St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1977), p. 145.Google Scholar

³⁰ Abdulgani, Roeslan, The Foreign Minister's Report to Parliament on President Soekarno's Second Tour, August 26-October 16, 1956 (Jakarta: Department of Foreign Affairs, 1956), p. 47.Google Scholar

³¹ See for example, “Mengapa Presiden Ambil Tjontoh Pembangunan dari RRT?”, Sin Min, 31 Aug. 1957. The United States ambassador to Indonesia, Hugh S. Cumming, seemed to have the same impression. “There isn't a great deal to say [about Sukarno's trip to the U.S. in 1956]”, Cumming recalled later, “Sukarno's own book shows his disappointment at not having been treated with greater intimacy.… He was disillusioned a little bit — disillusioned in that respect; overwhelmed in another — with the hopelessness of ever bringing his people up to us”. See “A Transcript of a Recorded Interview with Ambassador Hugh S. Cumming, Jr.” (1 Dec. 1966), The John Foster Dulles Oral History Project (Princeton University Library), pp. 23–24.Google Scholar

³² Hanna, Willard A., “Moscow Comes to Bung Karno — And So Does Peking”, American Universities Field Staff (Southeast Asia Series), no. 20 (30 Nov. 1956), p. 4.Google Scholar

³³ Ibid., p. 6.

³⁴ Harsono, Recollections, p. 160.

³⁵ Cited in C.L. Penders, The Life and Times of Sukarno, pp. 154–55.

³⁶ Presiden Sukarno Mengunjungi Tiongkok (issued by the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta, 1956), p. 1.Google Scholar

³⁷ En-yuan, Wang, “President Sukarno in Peking”, People's China, no. 21 (1 Nov. 1956), p. 8.Google Scholar

³⁸ Harsono, Recollections, p. 162.

³⁹ Roeslan Abdulgani, Foreign Minister's Report, p. 54.

⁴⁰ Harsono, Recollections, p. 162.

⁴¹ The Writings of Mao Zedong, 1949–1976, vol. 2, ed. Kau, Michael Y.M. and Leung, John K. (Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1992), pp. 143, 145.Google Scholar

⁴² Cited in Su Jia Luo Zongtong zai Zhongguo [President Sukarno in China] (Hong Kong: Zhonghua Shuju, 1957), pp. 167–68. This is a collection of Sukarno's speeches in China; the Indonesian version, entitled Presiden Sukarno di Tiongkok, was published by the Foreign Language Press in Peking in 1956. After comparing the Chinese version with the Indonesian one as well as with those speeches appearing in the Indonesian newspapers, I found the Chinese translation to be accurate.Google Scholar

⁴³ Sin Min, 5 and 6 Oct. 1956. It should be pointed out that, unlike the previous tours to the US and the USSR, Sukarno's China trip was widely and positively covered by the Indonesian press. See, for example, Karim, A. D. P., “Dengan Bung Karno Melihat Dunia Baru: Perobahan Tjara Berpikir di RRT”, Sin Po (Jakarta), 13–16 Nov. 1956Google Scholar; Juti [Melik Sayuti], “Limabelas Hari di Tiongkok”, Suluh Indonesia (Jakarta), 26–30 Oct. 1956Google Scholar; and Adinegoro, “Xin Shijie: Suitong Zongtong Chuguo Fanwenji” [A new world: visiting foreign countries with the President] Hsin Pao (Jakarta), 23 Oct.-l Nov. 1956.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ Interview with Mei-sen, Soeto (Hong Kong, 10 May 1994).Google Scholar

⁴⁵ Zou Sheng, Su Jia Luo, pp. 162–63.

⁴⁶ Roeslan Abdulgani, Foreign Minister's Report, p. 47.

⁴⁷ Zou Sheng, Su Jia Luo, p. 154.

⁴⁸ A. Karim D.P., “Dengan Bung Karno Melihat Dunia Baru”.

⁴⁹ Zou Sheng, Su Jia Luo, p. 117.

⁵⁰ Ibid., pp. 117, 132.

⁵¹ Interview with Chen Lishui, who was present at the Mao-Sukarno meeting. When visiting Indonesia in April 1961, Marshal Chen Yi, Chinese vice premier and minister of foreign affairs, said to Sukarno that “we treat you as our friend. I think there is no harm in being a bourgeoisie revolutionary; Mr. Sun Yat-sen was one of our great historical figures”. See Shiyang, Hu, Chen Yi Zhuang [A Biography of Chen Yi] (Beijing: Dantai Zhongguo Chubanshe, 1991), p. 574.Google Scholar

⁵² Xiaolu, He, Yuanshuai Waijiaojia [The Marshal diplomat] (Beijing: Jiefangjun Wenyi Chubanshe, 1985), p. 187Google Scholar; Hongwu, Jiang, Chen Yi Zhuang [A Biography of Chen Yi] (Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1992), pp. 702–703.Google Scholar

⁵³ Interview with Lishui, Chen (Beijing, 23 June 1994).Google Scholar

⁵⁴ He Xiaolu, Yuanshuai, p. 188; Hu Shiyang, Chen Yi Zhuang, pp. 573–74. In his frequent meetings with ambassador Huang Zhen, Sukarno was similarly interested in the issues regarding China's socio-economic development and its mechanisms. See Yao Zhongming, Jiangjun, pp. 376–78.

⁵⁵ Harian Rakjat (Jakarta), 17 Oct. 1956Google Scholar; Hsin Pao, 18 Oct. 1956.Google Scholar

⁵⁶ Sin Min, 1 Nov.1956.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ Sukarno, , Indonesia, Pilihlah Demokrasimu jang Sedjati (Pidato Presiden Sukarno pada Hari Sumpah Pemuda tgl. 28 Oktober 1956 dan Pidato Presiden Sukarno pada Resepsi Kongres P.G.R.I. ke-8 tgl. 30 Okt. 1956), 2nd printing (Jakarta: Jajasan Prapantja, 1961), p. 11.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ Quoted in Brackman, Arnold C., Indonesian Communism: A History (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1963), p. 227.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ Associated Press dispatch (Jakarta), 20 Jul. 1957Google Scholar, quoted in Cankao Xiaoxi (Beijing), 22 Jul. 1957.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ Sukarno, Indonesia, Pilihlah, p. 24.

⁶¹ Quoted in Kahin's, George preface to Sukarno, Marhaen and Proletarian (Ithaca: Cornell Modern Indonesian Project, 1960), p. iii.Google Scholar

⁶² Ibid., p. 19. (Emphases are original.)

⁶³ Ibid., pp. 19–20.

⁶⁴ New China News Agency, 14 Nov. 1956. See also, “Mengapa Presiden Ambil Tjontoh Pembangunan dari RRT?” 5m Min, 31 Aug. 1957.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ Tay Kong Sian Po (Surabaya), 11 Jun. 1957.Google Scholar

⁶⁶ Seng Hwo Pao (Jakarta), 20 Apr. 1957; and Brackman, Indonesian Communism, p. 227.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ Hsin Pao, 18 Oct. 1956.Google Scholar

⁶⁸ Sukarno, Indonesia, Pilihlah, pp. 21–22.

⁶⁹ Associated Press dispatch (Jakarta), 20 Jul. 1957, quoted in Cankao Xiaoxi, 22 Jul. 1957.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ Hsin Pao, 12 Nov. 1956; Sin Min, 13 Nov. 1956.Google Scholar

⁷¹ The best studies of Indonesian politics during the Guided Democracy era remain to be Daniel Lev's The Transition to Guided Democracy, and Feith, Herbert, “Dynamics of Guided Democracy”, in Indonesia, ed. McVey, Ruth (New Haven: HRAF Press, 1963), pp. 309–409.Google Scholar On some of the more recent insightful observations, see Democracy in Indonesia: 1950s and 1990s, ed. Bouchier, David and Legge, John (Clayton: Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1994).Google Scholar

⁷² Quoted from The Devious Dalang: Sukarno arid the So-called Untung Putsch, Eye-Witness Report by Bambang S. Widjanarko, ed. Kami, Radhi S. (The Hague: Interdoc, 1975), p. 100.Google Scholar

⁷³ This scheme was first suggested by the PKI leaders and it was reported that the PRC enthusiastically supported the plan. See Ide Anak Agung Gde Agung, Twenty Years Indonesian Foreign Policy, pp. 441–42; and Mozingo, Chinese Policy toward Indonesia, p. 227.

⁷⁴ Interviews with Shuhai, Huang, who was Chen Yi's interpreter (Washington, D.C., 21 Jul. 1993),Google Scholar and with Mei-sen, Soeto (Hong Kong, 10 May 1994).Google Scholar Some details of this talk were later repeated in an important press conference by Chen himself in Beijing on 29 September 1965. In this press conference he dealt with a variety of international issues, including the Sino-Indian Boundary question, the Second African-Asian Conference, China's development of nuclear weapons, and Sino-U.S. relationship. Chen Yi concluded his talk with this remark: “With the defeat of U.S. imperialism, the time will come when imperialism and colonialism will be really liquidated throughout the world. The ideal is bound to come true when the world truly becoming a community of nations with different social systems coexisting peacefully. China is ready to make all the necessary sacrifices for this noble ideal”. For the full text of Chen Yi's speech, see The People's Republic of China, 1949–1979: A Documentary Survey, vol. 2, ed. Hinton, Harold C. (Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources Inc., 1980), pp. 1247–53.Google Scholar

⁷⁵ The New Life Movement in early 1945 included contents such as “respect your parents”, “do not tell lies”, “learn reading and writing”, and “get up early and start working early in the morning”. See Sato, Shigeru, War, Nationalism, and Peasants: Java Under the Japanese Occupation, 1942–1945 (Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1994), pp. 77–79.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ Sin Min, 27 Apr. 1957.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ Sumarno was appointed by Sukarno in 1960 as the Head of Region (Governor of Jakarta), who reported directly to the President. See McIntyre, “Sukarno as Artist-Politician”, p. 182.

⁷⁸ Seng Hwo Pao, 27 Jun. 1957; and Minzhi, Xia, “Yindunixiya de Jiangjunmen zai Beijing” [Indonesian Generals in Peking], Minzhu Ribao (Medan), 28 Jun. 1957.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ Kol. Dr. Sumarno, ”’New Life Movement’ di RRT Dapat Tjontoh di Indonesia”, Sin Min, 29 Jul. 1957.

⁸⁰ Sin Min, 6 Aug. 1957.Google Scholar

⁸¹ Sukarno, , “1957, a Year of Decision in Indonesian History”, Indonesian Spectator (Jakarta), 1 Sep. 1957, pp. 14–15.Google Scholar

⁸² On the evolution of this movement, see Kroef, Van der, “Indonesia's ’New Life’ Movement”, Eastern World 11 (Nov. 1957): 16–19.Google Scholar

⁸³ ”’Turun ke Desa’ dari ‘Ivory Tower’”, Suluh Indonesia, 17 Jan. 1964.Google Scholar

⁸⁴ Mingguan Seng Hwo Pao (Jakarta), 1 Jan. 1965.Google Scholar

⁸⁵ Hauswedell, Peter C., “Sukarno: Radical or Conservative? Indonesian Politics 1964–65”, Indonesia 15 (1973): 136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁸⁶ For details see Liu, Hong, “Pramoedya Ananta Toer and China: The Transformation of a cultural Intellectual”, Indonesia 61 (1996): 119–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁸⁷ Cited in The Indonesian Revolution: Basic Documents and the Idea of Guided Democracy (Jakarta: Department of Information, Republic of Indonesia, 1960), p. 90. (Emphasis is original.)Google Scholar

⁸⁸ Merdeka, 30 Oct. 1956.

⁸⁹ Keng Po (Jakarta), 14 Dec. 1956.Google Scholar

⁹⁰ Ide Anak Agung Gde Agung, Twenty Years Indonesian Foreign Policy, p. 414.

⁹¹ Soekarno, Leader of the Indonesian People: A Short Biography (issued by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Peking, 1956), p. 14.Google Scholar

⁹² This emphasis on the theme of unity and harmony was a central characteristic of Sukarno's thinking. In the words of Hatta, Mohammad, who had known Sukarno for over thirty years, “As a lover of art, Sukarno looks at everything from its beautiful side, in its harmonious surroundings and in its perfect unity. That is why unity has become for him the most important thing and the end of all his efforts.” Antara News Bulletin, 8 Mar. 1957.Google Scholar

⁹³ Sukarno, Indonesia, Pilihlah, p. 21; and his 9 Nov. 1956, Bandung speech, in New China News Agency, 14 Nov. 1956.Google Scholar

⁹⁴ Sukarno, Marhaen and Proletarian, p. 19.

⁹⁵ This observation was confirmed by Hugh S. dimming, Jr., American ambassador to Indonesia, who reported that “Sukarno was especially impressed by confidence displayed by top Red Chinese in their leadership, and by outward appearance of economic progress in Communist China”. The Indonesians' enthusiastic reactions to the PRC, he said, were partly the result of “an Indonesian sense of kinship with Communist China as fellow Asian country in alleged struggle against 'colonialism and imperialism'”. See “Telegram from the Embassy in Indonesia to the Department of State” (27 Oct. 1956), Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, vol. 22 (Southeast Asia), ed. McMahon, Robert J.et al. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1989), pp. 316–17. On another occasion, Cumming suggested that “Sukarno saw, particularly in China, conditions were more obtainable to him than those in the Soviet Union”. See “A Transcript of a Recorded Interview with Ambassador Hugh S. Cumming, Jr.”, p. 24.Google Scholar

⁹⁶ Cumming, “A Transcript”, pp. 19–20; Brackman, Indonesian Communism, p. 227; and The Indonesian Revolution, pp. 90–91.