Opinion | Why Hong Kong’s autonomy from Beijing matters to Indonesia

When China’s National People’s Congress approved plans for a national security law in Hong Kong to proscribe secession, foreign interference and terrorism last month, Western countries and their allies voiced fears that the city’s special autonomy under the “one country, two systems” model of governance would be compromised. Southeast Asian nations, including Asean’s largest economy Indonesia, have refrained from weighing in.

Indonesians definitely followed reports on last year’s widespread anti-government protests that in some instances descended into violence and can see that Beijing’s recent move was fuelled by its anger at the demonstrations that roiled the city.

Opinions are divided, though. Indonesian democracy activists were largely impressed by how their Hong Kong counterparts managed to sustain the protests for much of last year, in the face of strict measures taken by the authorities. After all, wide-scale public demonstrations over democracy and human rights are harder to achieve in Indonesia, as they rarely receive the backing of the country’s middle classes who form the basis of political support for President Joko Widodo’s government.

Take the September 2019 protests in Indonesia’s major cities against the government’s new bill to revise the powers of the Corruption Eradication Commission, curtailing its independence. While university students and activists initially marched with gusto, the movement quickly ran out of steam.