‘Chinese army uniforms’ in Indonesia: another hoax to discredit Beijing, Widodo
- Analysts say a viral video making the claims is the latest in a series of attempts to create a ‘phobia’ of the mainland and reduce public trust in the president
- They come as Indonesia struggles with the economic impact of Covid-19, with some 7 million unemployed and a backlash against Chinese workers
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.