This paper probes into the dynamics of identity amongst the Chinese Indonesian community, who have been doing business with Mainland Chinese partners.

This working paper is an original version of the authors MA sub thesis in the East Asian Studies Program of the Faculty of Asian Studies, the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra. This paper probes into the dynamics of identity amongst the Chinese Indonesian community, particularly, those who have been doing business with Mainland Chinese partners, mostly since late New Order period until Gus Durs Presidency.

The research also takes into account the international relations as well as Sino-Indonesian bilateral relations context as an inseparable background of domestic politics that concern with the "Chinese Problem" or popularly known as Masalah Cina. As economic relations have become the backbone of the post-normalization Sino-Indonesian relations, the business relations between Chinese Indonesians and Mainland Chinese partners have sparked some cynicisms to add to the existing stereotypes of the Chinese Indonesians, namely being un-patriotic, economic animal and apathetic in politics.