Having spent time in China, he became greatly sympathetic to the Indonesian Chinese over the persecutions they faced in post-colonial Indonesia. Most notably, he published a series of letters addressed to an imaginary Chinese correspondent discussing the history of the Indonesian Chinese, called "Hoakiau di Indonesia" (History of the Overseas Chinese in Indonesia). He criticised the government for being too centred on Java and insensitive to the needs and desires of the other regions and peoples of Indonesia. As a result, he was arrested by the Indonesian military and jailed at Cipinang prison for nine months.