But after the 17th century, when Southeast Asia fell under the domination of the Western colonial powers, a large number of Chinese immigrants were recruited to the area to meet the manpower needs of economic exploitation.
但在十七世紀之後，東南亞幾乎籠罩在西方殖民勢力下，大量的中國移民就在這時被召募到東南亞，來應付經濟發展帶來的人力需求。