Bandungs Ethnic Chinese

A Warm Welcome for Chou En Lai

A time bomb blew up his plane over the Natuna waters, Indonesia. His life was at stake. Ethnic Chinese
worked together to protect Chou En Lai, Prime Minister of the Peoples Republic of China. Chou En
Lai and his entourage brought their own cooks and stayed at a house of an ethnic Chinese in Bandung.
It was discovered that Chou En Lai survived because he was not on board the bombed state aircraft. He
and other Chinese delegates changed their route and finally arrived in Bandung unharmed.
For people of Chinese descent living in Bandung, 1955 was a remarkable year. It was the year in which
they 'saved' Chou En Lai.
The safety of the Asian-African Conference participating delegates became one of top priorities. This is
because in 1955 many countries were still at state of war.
The conflict between Taiwan and China was heating up. It seems that Taiwan had obtained information
on Chou En Lais entourages flight plan to Indonesia. A plot to assassinate the China's most important
figure was then planned.
Kashmir Princess, the name of the plane carrying Chou En Lai, flew from Beijing to Hong Kong. The
aircraft landed in Hong Kong, which at that time was still under British colonial rule.
The delegation stayed the night. Despite being closely guarded, the bomb could slip into the cabin. A
janitor planted the time bomb in the cabin. He had access to the plane because it was his job to clean it.
Taiwanese intelligence and their network successfully blew up the plane carrying the Chinese prime
ministers entourage (of a small delegation and journalists).
However, Chinese intelligence could not be out-smarted. It turned out that they were able to save Chou
En Lai. They cleverly changed Chou En Lai and his entourages route by taking another plane.
It was found out that Chou En Lai took another route to Jakarta via Muangthai (Bangkok, Thailand).
Chou En Lai and his entourage flew to Jakarta on Muangthai state aircraft. They landed safely in
Jakarta and continued their travel to Bandung on Garuda airplane.
On Sunday, April 17, 1955 Chou En Lai could meet with ethnic Chinese who had been waiting for him
in Bandung. The Chinese Prime Minister stayed in a house located at Jalan Tamansari number 10.
Every day, it was so crowded here. The road in front of the house was packed with ethnic Chinese
every day. They wanted to see Chou En Lai. I stood in front of that house every day, said Lin Wan Li.
At that time, Lin Wan Li was still in the second grade of junior high school. He lived on Jalan Emong,
Bandung.
The Sino-Indonesian Dual Citizenship Agreement
During the Asian-African Conference, bilateral cooperation between the participating countries was

also built, for instance the agreement on citizenship between Indonesia and China.
An atmosphere of friendship filled the conference.
The agreement on dual citizenship between Indonesia and China was signed on April 22, 1955. A brief
ceremony was held in West Java Governor's residence in Gedung Pakuan.
The ceremony began with the signing of the agreement. Before that, Sunarjo delivered his welcoming
remarks which were commented by Chou En Lai.