Sympathy for Indonesian nationalism
At the turn of the 20th century, however, Cina Totoks were increasingly assimilated into Indonesian culture. Younger generations still tried to maintain ties with China, but considered themselves as Indonesians and, therefore, adopted more Indonesian-Chinese nationalistic views.
Although the Dutch had given the Chinese Indonesians a special status, they were becoming increasingly oppressive and discriminative against all Chinese Indonesians. So, all three groups - Qiao Shengs, Cina Babas, and Cina Totoks - were more and more cooperative toward the Indonesian national movement, especially in providing monetary support.
More and more Chinese Indonesians were involved in Indonesian politics. Cina Totoks typically set up specific Chinese political parties which aimed at an Indonesia-China alliance and established newspapers. Cina Babas and Qiao Shengs typically joined nationalist parties jointly with pribumis. Some of them, serving as officers in the Dutch Army and later the Japanese one, used their positions to help the national movement.
All three groups were pioneers in the use of the Indonesian language, actually eclipsing the pribumis in terms of quantity of publication. They were also among the pioneers of Indonesian newspapers. In their fledgling publishing companies, they published their own political ideas along with contributions from other Indonesian writers. In November 1928, the Chinese weekly Sin Po was the first paper to openly publish the text of the national anthem Indonesia Raya. On occasion, those involved in such activities ran a concrete risk of imprisonment or even of their lives, as the Dutch colonial authorities banned nationalistic publications and activities.
Chinese Indonesians were very active in supporting the independence movement during the 1940s Japanese occupation, when the all but one Chinese Indonesian political party - Huaqiao Zhonghui (????) - were banned by the Japanese military authorities. Some notable pro-independence activists were Siauw Giok Tjhan and Liem Koen Hian. Some of them, such as Yap Tjwan Bing, became officers in the Japanese forces, along with other Indonesians. Their aim was not to perpetuate Japanese rule but to help create the forces which they hoped would eventually gain Indonesian independence (which did indeed happen in 1945).