Indonesia protests: Prabowo cancels China trip, Beijing issues security warning
The Chinese embassy in Jakarta warned Chinese citizens in Indonesia to avoid crowds on the weekend as an outbreak of protests forced the Indonesian president to cancel his trip to China.
“[Citizens and agencies should] improve security precautions, closely monitor local developments, minimise non-essential outings, steer clear of protest crowds and areas, and avoid visiting crowded locations,” the embassy said in a social media post on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, Indonesian State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said “domestic dynamics” had prompted President Prabowo Subianto to cancel his planned trip.
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Prasetyo, who is also the presidential spokesman, said Prabowo wanted to “monitor the situation directly, as well as to lead and find the best solution”.
“Therefore, the president apologises to the Chinese government that he could not attend the invitation,” the minister said in a video.
Prabowo had originally planned to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Sunday and Monday, and then the Victory Day military parade in Beijing on Wednesday.
Protests have been raging across several Indonesian cities for days, fuelled by anger over pay rises for parliamentarians as well as government corruption.
The situation escalated after a police vehicle hit and killed a 21-year-old motorcycle taxi driver while dispersing demonstrators outside Jakarta’s parliamentary complex on Thursday evening.
On Friday, Prabowo called for calm and trust in the government, pledging a “thorough and transparent” investigation into the driver’s death.
The next day, social media platform TikTok said it would suspend live-streaming services in Indonesia for several days.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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