Indonesia’s Prabowo pushes through with China visit despite deadly protests

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will visit China for a military parade commemorating 80 years since the end of World War II on Sept 3, after earlier cancelling his trip over

deadly domestic protests

stoked by the death of a young delivery driver.

South-east Asia’s biggest economy was rocked by the widespread protests, which left at least six dead and were initially sparked by the handing out of lavish perks to lawmakers.

Mr Prabowo was

forced to revoke some of the incentives

in the wake of the demonstrations.

Indonesia’s State Secretariat Minister Prasetyo Hadi said Mr Prabowo left for China on the evening of Sept 2 and was due back a day later.

“Today he monitored the situation and received reports from all relevant officials that public life was gradually returning to normal,” said Mr Prasetyo.

Mr Prabowo and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping were expected to meet for talks during the visit, he said.

The rallies have become smaller in recent days after the lawmaker perks were revoked and the military was deployed to the capital on Sept 1 in a show of force.

Mr Prabowo will now join the

more than 25 leaders

– including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin – who will attend the Sept 3 parade centred on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Mr Xi invited Mr Prabowo for the huge spectacle, in which China will showcase its military prowess, with troops marching in formation, flypasts and high-tech fighting gear on display.

Millions of Chinese people were killed during a prolonged war with imperial Japan in the 1930s and 1940s, which became part of a global conflict following Tokyo’s attack on the US’ Pearl Harbour in 1941.

Indonesia maintains a neutral foreign policy, through which it maintains strong relations with both Washington and Beijing. But Mr Prabowo has pledged to boost ties and defence cooperation with China. AFP