Between Citizenship and Solidarity: PRC and ROC Constructions of the Chinese Diaspora in the 1998 Anti‐Chinese Riots in Indonesia

The May 1998 anti‐Chinese riots in Indonesia tested how states claiming ties to a transnational ethnic community define responsibility during crises. This article compares how the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) constructed obligations towards the Chinese diaspora following the violence. Drawing on legal frameworks, media and memoirs, the analysis highlights a structural incompatibility in executing expansive diaspora policies within the modern inter‐state system. Taiwan adopted a dual‐track approach, restricting material protection to ROC nationals while invoking ethnic solidarity rhetorically. The PRC confined its response to discourse, temporarily expanding ethnically resonant language before reverting to strict non‐interference. Ultimately, both cases reveal ‘Hua Ch'iao’ as a flexible crisis category, demonstrating that state‐led diaspora solidarity is a conditional performance of ‘selective empathy’ strictly bounded by citizenship regimes and geopolitical constraints.