This term dates from the time of the Dutch occupation of what is now Indonesia. It is the English translation of the original Dutch term for the registry, 'Burgerlichen Stand voor Chineezen'. In 1955, when the PRC declared that all overseas Chinese were citizens of the PRC, ethnic Chinese in Indonesia were required to choose between Chinese citizenship and Indonesian Citizenship. There are still ethnic Chinese in Indonesia whose birth certificates were issued by Catatan Sipil Warga Negara Cina. Under UU No. 12/2006 ttg Kewarganegaraan, discrimination was supposedly ended, but there are still separate categories for 'bangsa Indonesia asli' and 'orang-orang bangsa lain'. And native-born ethnic Chinese often still get asked to provide proof of their citizenship in the form of an SBKRI.

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Note added at 3 days35 mins (2011-06-20 04:21:35 GMT) Post-grading
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Friends, next time we translate a birth record of an Indonesian who is ethnically Chinese, we will note the date and understand why a pre-1955 document will show 'Catatan Sipil Bangsa Tionghoa' and a later one will show 'Catatan Sipil WNI Keturunan Cina' or such. It's not random; it's historical.