REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono changed term of 'China' with 'Tionghoa' for Chinese descendent people in Indonesia. The old term, China, is considered as discriminative term. 

The president has signed a presidential decree No. 12/2-14 on March 14, 2014, concerning the revocation of letter No. SE-06/Pred.Kab/6/1967 on June 28, 1967. The term, the decree says, "contradicts to the 1945 Constitution of Republic of Indonesia, the Law of Human Rights and the Law on Elimination of Racial Discrimination."

President also explained that the restoration of good relationship between Indonesia and China needed the right title, from People’s Republic of China to People’s Republic of Tiongkok. The decree mentioned that the 1945 Constitution did not use term of China, but Tionghoa. The term referred to people of other nations who could be Indonesian citizens if they lived in Indonesia and admitting this country as their homeland, as well as being loyal to Republic of Indonesia.

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