This paper focuses on the Chinese population of Pasisir from 1630 to 1680, particularly discussing their trade activities and sociopolitical status in relation to the Mataram Kingdom. The relationship between the Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie (VOC) and the Mataram Kingdom, which became a major power in 17th-century Java, deteriorated for some time following the former’s conquest of the northern coast but then recovered in 1646.

In the trade with VOC that developed later, the Mataram Kingdom promoted its own trade monopoly policy by rigidly controlling influential Javanese individuals in the kingdom and making use of the Chinese residents in Pasisir as they had good relations with the kingdom and the VOC.

The Chinese population of Pasisir played a central role in the Mataram Kingdom’s trade with the VOC, exporting the specialties of their native land and the kingdom’s main products―rice, timber, sugar, and ships―and importing Indian cotton cloth, copper, ceramics, and opium.

While the kingdom restricted the activities of Javanese chiefs in various areas, the Chinese people in Pasisir gained the Mataram Kingdom’s trust by trading with the VOC and subsequently, these residents took control of the economy and society of the northern coastal region. Some obtained the right to collect local taxes and monopolize the trade of salt, bamboo, and liquor (arak).

This paper sheds light on the Mataram Kingdom, which has been considered inactive in trade by previous studies. Furthermore, the paper shows that the “Century of the Chinese”―characterized by Chinese activities and trade in Southeast Asia―did not begin in the 18th century as claimed but it began in the mid to late 17th century in Pasisir and northern Java. Therefore, the paper prompts a reconsideration of the Century of the Chinese argument.

Future studies and a close examination of Chinese activities in Pasisir will help enhance a comprehensive understanding of what continued through the 17th century and emerged in the 18th century.

From the anti-extradition bill amendment law protests in Hong Kong to the pro-democracy, monarchy reform movement in Thailand and the anti-coup civil resistance in Myanmar, Asia has witnessed a new surge of democracy movements in recent years. Amid the series of protests, activists across the region began to form an online, international network of protestors called “Milk Tea Alliance,” which utilized social media, especially its hashtag function, to share protest tactics and other information under the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance.

What was unique about this network was that it began not as a part of serious political activism lead by well-known activists, but as a rather casual internet meme war that rather accidentally and unexpectedly united internet users and activists from around the region. politics and society in the region.