'Chinese army uniforms' in Indonesia: another hoax to discredit Beijing, Widodo
Indonesian police say there is no evidence of Chinese military uniforms being washed at a launderette in Jakarta, after investigating a viral video analysts say is the latest in a series of hoaxes circulated to create a "phobia" of Beijing and discredit President Joko Widodo.
The footage showed camouflage uniforms hanging on racks at a launderette in the capital's northern Kelapa Gading district, while a narrator said in Bahasa Indonesia: "There are many Chinese soldiers here, ready for war. Looks like one battalion."
The police sent a team to check out at least 42 launderettes in the area, but district police chief Rango Siregar in a video posted on the North Jakarta Police's official Instagram account said they did not find a laundry business that had received or washed the uniforms.
With the help of a language expert, the authorities also determined the names sewn on the uniforms in the video were South Korean, not Chinese.
On Wednesday, Indonesian police arrested a man in east Jakarta for uploading the video, CNN Indonesia reported.
North Jakarta Police chief Wirdhanto Hadicaksono had earlier said the person who made the video had spread it online with the intent to "stir up problems" by claiming the uniforms belonged to the Chinese army, according to local media.
Such hoaxes have appeared on Indonesian social media in the past two months in an attempt to foster negative sentiment towards China. They come as Indonesia is also struggling with the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with analysts saying the campaign is a move to discredit Widodo and his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) ahead of the 2024 election.
"Anti-Chinese hoaxes have been around for a while but they were not massive like now, since Widodo won the elections [last year]," said Aribowo Sasmito, who heads the fact-checking team at Mafindo, an Indonesian civil anti-fake-news organisation. "Any issue that can be twisted becomes part of the anti-China narrative. Apart from racism, its aim is also political."
Indonesia on Wednesday reported 2,381 new coronavirus infections, taking its total to 104,432 cases and 4,975 associated deaths - making it the epicentre of the outbreak in Southeast Asia. According to Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa, the pandemic is seen as adding about 3.7 million more unemployed people to the 7 million who are already without work.
Arya Fernandes, a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, said public satisfaction towards Widodo's performance had declined since the start of the pandemic, only to trend up once the economy reopened.
"The government's progress towards rebuilding the economy has been far bigger than that for health care. You can see that from the number of Covid-19 cases," he said, warning that Widodo's popularity would take a hit if the situation did not improve.
The Widodo administration's decision to bring in hundreds of Chinese workers to work on nickel and stainless steel projects at a time when millions are struggling to find work has also turned the spotlight on investment from Beijing. China is the second-largest foreign direct investor in Indonesia, with Chinese companies investing US$4.7 billion in the country last year.
Indonesia allowed Chinese-backed PT Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry and PT Obsidian Stainless Steel to bring in about 500 workers since June for specialist jobs in the smelters being constructed in Southeast Sulawesi, sparking protests among the locals.
A demonstration against Chinese workers in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo: Sulkarnain
The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan defended the visas for Chinese workers, saying "the presence of skilled workers will lead to creation of 5,000 jobs for the locals and transfer of technology".
As of May this year, there were 98,900 foreigners working in Indonesia, representing less than 0.1 per cent of the country's workforce of 124 million, according to official figures. Workers from China (35,781) were the largest group, followed by Japan (12,823) and South Korea (9,097).
Anak Agung Banyu Perwita, professor of international relations at Indonesia's President University, said the increased Chinese investment in Indonesia had sparked "many systematic efforts by someone or some elements to inject China phobia into Indonesian society, particularly among Muslims".
He said this was similar to "how some Western countries worry" about the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing's infrastructure initiative to boost connectivity across Asia, Africa and Europe.
"Fortunately, the majority of our society do not buy this kind of negative propaganda about China," Banyu said, adding that segments of the public who are anti-Chinese believe Beijing is exporting communism to Indonesia.
The Southeast Asian nation is staunchly anti-communist following a failed coup in the 1960s by the Communist Party of Indonesia that saw the murder of six army generals, triggering a massive backlash in which thousands of suspected communist members were killed.
Banyu urged the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency to conduct a "serious investigation" into the hoaxes, as he said the likes of the video claiming the presence of Chinese military uniforms could "cause instability and reduce the public trust" in the government and Widodo.
He added that the anti-Chinese hoaxes were also part of some Islamist parties' longer-term goal to gain power in the 2024 elections, which would be "very crucial and critical" for Indonesia in defending the country's way of life since its founding in 1945 as a secular democracy.
"Some radical Muslims are being used by the enemies of Jokowi and PDIP to get power," Banyu said. "They are actively campaigning for a caliphate."
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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