The changing world ordermeans of expanding Chinese influence in the region. Close contacts
were developed between authorities in China and Chinese communi-
ties in Southeast Asia, while migration of unprecedented numbers of
Chinese continued with little concern for indigenous sensitivities.
The interwar years were a period of competing nationalisms that
gave both European authorities and local elites cause for concern.
Chinese were urged to return to their roots by adopting Chinese values
and education for their children. They were also encouraged to take an
interest in Chinese politics. The struggle between communists and
Nationalists was in this way transferred to Southeast Asia, where it
interacted with local nationalist debate. The politicisation of the over-
seas Chinese had the untoward effect, however, of making them a
political issue in the lands where they resided.
As a victor in the Second World War, China gained in inter-
national status. Thanks largely to the United States, Nationalist
China was given a permanent seat on the United Nations Security
Council. Beset, however, by civil war, the Chinese government was
unable to exploit the country’s international prominence, even among
newly independent countries in Southeast Asia. How Nationalist
determination to restore China’s international prestige would have
impacted on relations with Southeast Asia had communism in China
been defeated must remain a matter of speculation. As it was, it was
left to the communists to develop these relations, with the disadvan-
tage that their contacts were predominantly with revolutionary
movements intent on overthrowing Southeast Asian ruling elites.
Little wonder that the process was fraught with tension and misunder-
standing, and took over thirty years to work out.