INDONESIA: Chinese, Go Home

Red China's Chou En-lai and Indonesia's President Sukarno basked in each other's compliments at the 1955 Bandung Conference, found common cause in anticolonialism. But last year, looking for a scapegoat for his crumbling economy, Sukarno cast his restless eye on the Chinese who run the stores and make the most money in nearly every village and town in Indonesia. He decided to transfer this lucrative business to deserving Indonesians, lightly overlooked the fact that few Indonesians have the know-how or energy to replace the industrious Chinese. He offered the Chinese a harsh...

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