Why Indonesia’s muted response to China’s Xinjiang Uyghur internment camps is in stark contrast to anger over Rohingya crisis

A new report by the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict says some Indonesians and Islamic groups see the reports of religious persecution as Western propaganda aimed at denigrating China

The government of President Joko Widodo is also worried that taking a more vocal stance would embolden the country’s influential Islamic right

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The Chinese flag flies over a mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:00pm, 23 Jun 2019Updated: 1:25pm, 24 Jun 2019

Indonesia’s muted response to China’s mass internment of ethnic Uygurs and Muslim minorities in Xinjiang is not due solely to fears of offending its top trading partner, but stems from a mix of reasons including scepticism about allegations of human rights abuses, a new report suggests.

Some Indonesians and Islamic groups see the reports of religious persecution as Western propaganda aimed at denigrating China while it is locked in a trade dispute with the United States, and the government worries whether taking a more vocal stance would embolden the Islamic right that has become more influential in domestic politics.

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo. Photo: AFP

The report, published by the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict think tank on Thursday, quotes Dr Munajat Stain, a senior aide to President Joko Widodo as saying: “We did not want to engage in their [Uygur persecution] narrative because it would only empower the Islamists and radicals belonging to the opposition.”

“Our diplomatic problems with China are not because of this. They are because of China’s encroachment in the South China Sea and destabilisation of Southeast Asia’s regional security – not the Uygurs.”

The 17-page document delves into the reasons that the human rights crisis in Xinjiang, which reportedly has the US government ready to punish China with sanctions, has caused “little angst” in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

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