Kapitan Cina

Kapitan Cina (lit. 'Captain of the Chinese'; Chinese: 華人甲必丹; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hôa-jîn Kap-pit-tan; pinyin: Huárén Jiǎbìdān; Dutch: Kapitein der Chinezen; Spanish: Capitán Chino), was a high-ranking government position in the civil administration of colonial Indonesia, Malaya, Singapore, Borneo and the Philippines. Office holders exercised varying degrees of power and influence: from near-sovereign political and legal jurisdiction over local Chinese communities, to ceremonial precedence for community leaders. Corresponding posts existed for other ethnic groups, such as Kapitan Arab and Kapitan Keling for the local Arab and Indian communities respectively.