and China was forced to accept the return of almost 100 000 displaced
Chinese.^10
The Sino–Indonesian treaty on dual nationality was the only one
signed. Discussions on a similar treaty with Burma lapsed. From the
Chinese point of view, however, the Sino–Indonesian agreement had
served its purpose. It had taken Beijing some time to become aware of
how sensitive the overseas Chinese issue was in Southeast Asia. At
first the PRC saw the Chinese overseas as citizens to be won over to
the communist cause in its struggle with the Nationalists on Taiwan,
and as representatives of China abroad. It was just this, however, that
worried Southeast Asian governments and complicated relations with
Beijing. Only later did Beijing come to see overseas Chinese as some-
thing of a liability, rather than an asset. Even their hard currency
remittances (running at around $30 million a year during the PRC’s
first decade in power)^11 were insufficient to offset the cost of frayed
relations with Southeast Asian nations.
The final elimination of dual nationality had to await enactment
of the PRC Nationality Law of 1980. The treaty with Indonesia was
significant, however, because it showed that China was prepared to
abrogate the principle of citizenship by paternal descent that had been
in force since 1909. Effectively therefore, Beijing was signalling that
China’s national interest took precedence over ties of descent and
culture. Chinese in Southeast Asia could no longer look for redress to
Beijing, even when, as in Indonesia, they were actively discriminated
against. In other words, the PRC reverted to what essentially had been
the traditional Chinese position on all those who chose to depart the
Middle Kingdom: they were on their own.
The Bandung Conference had other positive benefits for China.
Relations with Indonesia warmed, the more so after Sukarno intro-
duced his ‘guided democracy’. Trade, in particular, expanded rapidly.
Personal relations between U Nu of Burma and Zhou Enlai blossomed,
leading to negotiations on a principal issue of concern to the Burmese:
demarcation of the frontier. Eventually, in January 1960, a boundary
A Short History of China and Southeast Asia