Once relations had been suspended between Indonesia and China, there were no further visits by the Kuang Hua to Belawan t repatriate Chinese refugees in Medan, despite hopes expressed by Indonesian government sources that repatriation would continue. It seems likely, however, that the halt in repatriation had another, earlier cause. The last shipload of refugees to leave Belawan had been in May, by which time the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission were under the control of revolutionary rebels. It seems that this group was critical of the encouragement which its predecessors had given to overseas Chinese to return to China and there was, according to Stephen Fitzgerald, a general drive against the overseas Chinese in China during the cultural revolution. The suspension of relations therefore probably only confirmed the cessation of repatriation which had begun in May.