Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto cancels China visit amid growing protests
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto cancelled a planned visit to China on Saturday, after protests that had been ongoing for days spread beyond the capital, Jakarta.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has cancelled a planned visit to China, where he was due to attend a "Victory Parade" commemorating the end of World War II and Japan's formal surrender on September 3. The ceremony in Beijing will be hosted by President Xi Jinping, who has invited several foreign leaders, including the guest of honour, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Subianto's office has publicly announced his absence.
"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 Saturday.
"Therefore, the president apologises to the Chinese government that he could not attend the invitation."
The Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto at an Independence Day celebration. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Protests across the country
Demonstrations that began in Jakarta on Friday have since spread to other cities. Their immediate cause was the death of the driver of a shared motorbike, hit by a police car near parliament on Thursday. Violent clashes erupted there between police and demonstrators who were demanding pay rises for parliamentarians and increased spending on education
This is the first major challenge to the Subianto government, which has been in power for less than a year.
On Saturday, protesters set fire to regional parliament buildings in three provinces: in West Nusa Tenggara, Pekalongan town in Central Java and Cirebon in West Java, according to local media.
A day earlier, three people were killed in a fire at the parliament building in Makasar, the disaster management agency reported.
Tear gas was also used against demonstrators in Bali, a popular destination for foreign tourists.
The role of social media
According to the government, anti-government sentiment has been fuelled by disinformation spread on social media, including TikTok. The authorities have called on representatives of the platforms, including TikTok and Meta, to increase content moderation and disable the live streaming feature, which allows real-time coverage of events.
Three people were killed in Makassar on the eastern Indonesian island of Sulawesi after a city council building was set ablaze by protesters amid a wave of unrest that rocked major Indonesian cities – the most violent protests of Prabowo Subianto’s presidency. Prabowo cancelled a planned trip to China next week in order to monitor the situation in Indonesia.
Issued on: 30/08/2025 -
By: FRANCE 24
A fire started by protesters at a council building in eastern Indonesia killed at least three people, a local official said on Saturday, after the death of a man hit by a police vehicle sparked widespread demonstrations.
Southeast Asia's biggest economy was rocked by protests in major cities, including the capital Jakarta, on Friday after footage spread of a motorcycle taxi driver being run over by a police tactical vehicle during an earlier rally against low wages and financial perks for lawmakers.
The protests are the biggest and most violent of Prabowo Subianto's presidency, a key test for the ex-general less than a year into his rule.
Protests in Makassar, the biggest city on the eastern island of Sulawesi, descended into chaos outside the provincial and city council buildings, which were both set on fire as demonstrators hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails.
Three people were killed as a result of Friday's Makassar city council fire, its secretary Rahmat Mappatoba told AFP.
"They were trapped in the burning building," he said, accusing protesters of lighting the blaze.
"Usually during a demonstration, protesters only throw rocks or burn a tyre in front of the office. They never stormed into the building or burned it."
Two workers died at the scene and a third person, a civil servant, died in hospital.
At least four people were injured in the fire and were being treated in hospital, Rahmat said.
Hundreds of people were seen in footage posted by Indonesian media cheering and clapping as fire engulfed the building, with few security forces in sight.
One man was heard shouting: "There are people upstairs!"
Smouldering debris was seen falling from the roof of the city council building surrounded by palm trees as flames still flickered in charred cars.
Protesters inside lit several fires as parts of the building collapsed, while others smashed glass and chanted "revolution".
The building was a blackened wreck by Saturday, with dozens of charred cars around it, as Makassar residents inspected the scene, media footage showed.
Windiyatno, South Sulawesi's military chief, said in a statement on Saturday that the situation in Makassar had "now returned to normal".
'Police crimes'
Protesters gathered again on Saturday in different areas of Indonesia's vast archipelago.
Hundreds of students and "ojek" motorcycle taxi drivers protested in front of the police headquarters in Bali, Indonesia's most popular tourist hotspot.
Protesters on neighbouring Lombok island stormed a council building in the provincial capital Mataram and set it on fire, despite police attempts to stop them with tear gas.
Hundreds of students in Surabaya also rallied outside the East Java police headquarters, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
In response to the protests, social media app TikTok said Saturday it had temporarily suspended its live feature for "a few days" in Indonesia, where it has more than 100 million users.
In Jakarta, hundreds had massed on Friday outside the headquarters of the elite Mobile Brigade Corp (Brimob) paramilitary police unit they blamed for motorcycle gig driver Affan Kurniawan's death the day before.
Protesters threw firecrackers as police responded with tear gas.
Police said they had detained seven officers for questioning in connection with Affan's death.
National police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who is not related to the president, told a news conference on Saturday the officers would face an ethics trial that could take a week.
"If they are guilty, there's room for us to process the case as a crime," he said.
President Prabowo has urged calm, and ordered an investigation into the driver's death and that the officers involved be held accountable.
On Saturday he cancelled a planned trip to China next week for a military parade commemorating the end of World War II in order to monitor the situation in Indonesia.
"Mr President apologised because he decided he could not accept the invitation from the Chinese government," State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said.
Prabowo has pledged fast, state-driven growth but has already faced protests against widespread government budget cuts.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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