A Short History of China and Southeast Asia

The colonial powers, Britain, France and Holland, were not

entirely at ease over the rapid development of Qing relations with

the Nanyang Chinese. The consulates in Singapore and Penang, in

particular, were effective in developing networks of contacts with

overseas Chinese throughout the region. As Nanyang communities

increasingly accepted direction from Qing representatives in areas

such as education and cultural norms, colonial powers feared they

were losing the loyalty of ‘their’ Chinese.

The rapidly increasing numbers of Chinese in Southeast Asia

also caused concern. In Indonesia the number of Chinese more than

doubled between 1860 and 1905, from an estimated 221 000 to

563 000.^15 The increase was particularly marked in Sumatra, where

thousands of coolies were brought in to work the tobacco and rubber

plantations. It was in Malaya, however, that the increase in the

Enter the Europeans

The City of Fouzhou in 1884.

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