Indonesia's president cancels China trip amid ongoing protests
On August 30, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto canceled a planned trip to China as protests spread beyond the capital Jakarta, with several regional parliament buildings being set on fire.
Mr Prabowo had been due to attend a “Victory Day” parade in China on Sept 3 to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II following Japan’s formal surrender, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
The protests, the first major test for Mr Prabowo’s nearly year-old government, began in Jakarta this week over lawmakers’ pay and worsened after a police vehicle hit and killed a motorcycle rider.
“The president wants to continue monitoring (the situation in Indonesia) directly...and seek the best solutions,” presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi said in a video statement on Aug 30.
“Therefore, the president apologises to the Chinese government that he could not attend the invitation.”
Another consideration in cancelling the trip was a United Nations General Assembly session in September, Mr Prasetyo said.
In light of the protest, short-video app TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, said on Aug 30 it had suspended its live feature in Indonesia for a few days.
Jakarta had this week summoned representatives of social media platforms, including as Meta Platforms and TikTok, and told them to boost content moderation because disinformation had spread online.
The government says that such disinformation has spurred protests against it.
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