A Dutch speaking, Chinese Australia

A little background:

In the early 1700s the Dutch East Indies saw huge waves of Chinese immigration. Batavia (Jakarta) was essentially a Chinese colony with the entire economy ran by rich Chinese merchants and labour guilds. It was getting to the point that the Dutch felt they were losing control of the place.

The Dutch governor decided to round up the immigrants and ship them off to Ceylon as plantation slaves. When word got out that the captives were being dumped at sea the Chinese community revolted. What followed was the Batavia Fury of 1740 during which 10,000 of the 100,000 Jakarta Chinese were killed. The massacre dispersed the rest of the Chinese population throughout the East Indies, but did little to end Chinese immigration. VOC was shocked and imprisoned the governor and the Chinese economic activities resumed in Batavia. By the 18th century the wealthy Chinese merchant class had became Christians and behaved "more Dutch than the Dutch."

What if in 1740, the Batavian governor decides to settle the Chinese population in Australia instead? The place was know to the Dutch but the VOC lacked the energy to colonize it. With the excess labour market they could turn Australia into a profitable enterprise.

Dutch Australia would then be populated mostly by Chinese but governed by the Dutch and managed by the increasingly Dutchified (is that a word?) Chinese merchants. They would become Christian, Dutch speaking colonies based on Dutch law. This could turn around the Dutch Empire's declining fortunes in the 18th century. Not only would the colonies be wealth generating, but it could result in the VOC gaining considerable market in China itself through its contacts with China through its Chinese-Dutch subjects.

Having large numbers of Westernized Chinese trading in the ports of south China would undermine the closed markets of the Qing Empire. It would lead to expanded ties with the East Indias/Australia, and to Europe itself. A growing Chinese bourgeoise would form and become influenced by Dutch ways. Ultimately this cosmopolitan middle class would destabilize the Qing regime.


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A little background:

In the early 1700s the Dutch East Indies saw huge waves of Chinese immigration. Batavia (Jakarta) was essentially a Chinese colony with the entire economy ran by rich Chinese merchants and labour guilds. It was getting to the point that the Dutch felt they were losing control of the place.

The Dutch governor decided to round up the immigrants and ship them off to Ceylon as plantation slaves. When word got out that the captives were being dumped at sea the Chinese community revolted. What followed was the Batavia Fury of 1740 during which 10,000 of the 100,000 Jakarta Chinese were killed. The massacre dispersed the rest of the Chinese population throughout the East Indies, but did little to end Chinese immigration. VOC was shocked and imprisoned the governor and the Chinese economic activities resumed in Batavia. By the 18th century the wealthy Chinese merchant class had became Christians and behaved "more Dutch than the Dutch."

What if in 1740, the Batavian governor decides to settle the Chinese population in Australia instead? The place was know to the Dutch but the VOC lacked the energy to colonize it. With the excess labour market they could turn Australia into a profitable enterprise.

Dutch Australia would then be populated mostly by Chinese but governed by the Dutch and managed by the increasingly Dutchified (is that a word?) Chinese merchants. They would become Christian, Dutch speaking colonies based on Dutch law. This could turn around the Dutch Empire's declining fortunes in the 18th century. Not only would the colonies be wealth generating, but it could result in the VOC gaining considerable market in China itself through its contacts with China through its Chinese-Dutch subjects.

Having large numbers of Westernized Chinese trading in the ports of south China would undermine the closed markets of the Qing Empire. It would lead to expanded ties with the East Indias/Australia, and to Europe itself. A growing Chinese bourgeoise would form and become influenced by Dutch ways. Ultimately this cosmopolitan middle class would destabilize the Qing regime.


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Interesting scenario!
 
The Dutch only knew about the crappiest parts of Australia, they never explored east of Torres strait in the north and Spencer Gulf in the south. They could possibly fight the wind and current to plant these Chinese in Perth, but they didn't know about the best parts of SE Australia so they'd have to explore before colonising.
 
Hrmm. They were mostly merchants, no?
Most were workers in the various industries, salt mines, agriculture, carpentry, etc. At the time the native Indonesians were not technically skilled enough to do a lot of the work required by the Dutch and this created a niche for the Chinese who were made a higher caste in the Dutch system. This bred enormous resentment from the native population which lasts to today and was used in 1740 by the Dutch for the massacre.

The Dutch only knew about the crappiest parts of Australia, they never explored east of Torres strait in the north and Spencer Gulf in the south. They could possibly fight the wind and current to plant these Chinese in Perth, but they didn't know about the best parts of SE Australia so they'd have to explore before colonising.
I was thinking a colony in the Darwin area for a start.
 
Wouldn't the first thing the Chinese tradies make be a ship to get to Timor at least or anywhere else in Asia at best? Better still they could steal visiting Maccasar praus and make their escape.
 
Wouldn't the first thing the Chinese tradies make be a ship to get to Timor at least or anywhere else in Asia at best? Better still they could steal visiting Maccasar praus and make their escape.
People will come and go as they please. But most likely the problem will be overcrowding rather than a lack of interest. The Chinese went to the East Indies to look for jobs in the first place. There was an unprecedented population rise and domestic opportunities could not keep up with demand.
 
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