Indonesian President Cancels China Trip Amid Rising Protests
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing Mehr News Agency and Reuters, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto canceled his scheduled visit to China on Saturday. Protests that began in the capital have spread to other cities, with several local parliamentary buildings set on fire.
Prabowo was expected to attend China’s Victory day parade on September 3, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The demonstrations, marking a significant test for Subianto’s one-year-old government, started recently in Jakarta.
The unrest initially centered around a proposed increase in lawmakers’ salaries but intensified after a police vehicle fatally struck a motorcyclist.
Prastio Hadi, spokesperson for Indonesia’s presidency, said in a video message Saturday that the president wants to monitor the situation directly and seek optimal solutions. He apologized to the Chinese government for being unable to attend the event.
Hadi added that another reason for canceling was Indonesia’s upcoming participation in the United Nations General Assembly session scheduled for September.
Amid growing unrest, TikTok – owned by Chinese company ByteDance – announced on Saturday it would suspend live streaming services in Indonesia for several days.
This week, Indonesian authorities summoned representatives from social media companies such as Meta and TikTok. They urged them to increase oversight of online content because officials believe misinformation circulating online has contributed significantly to recent protests.
