E42: (Mis) Understood Silence

Indonesia In-depth

When the international community condemned the arbitrary detention, mass surveillance, political indoctrination and restrictions on religious activity of the Muslim minority Uyghur ethnic group in 2019, most of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members instead endorsed China’s treatment of Uyghurs in an official statement. The OIC stated that Beijing has undertaken deradicalization and counter-terrorism measures in the province of Xinjiang. Indonesia also failed to speak out on the issue and has taken a non-interference stance as they say that the Chinese government has a Uyghur separatist issue. What is the Indonesian government’s motivation behind such as stance and what does it mean to its foreign policy?

Beijing has not taken this support for granted. It has conducted elaborate charm offensives and invited Indonesian social influencers, religious leaders and journalists on special managed tours to Xinjiang to show “normal life” in the province. Some participants said they failed to see any persecution of citizens while others say their movement was heavily restricted and under heavy surveillance by state minders. What really happened on the Xinjiang trip?

In this audio documentary, we explore the Indonesian government’s stance on the Uyghur issue with Sidney Jones, a terrorism and security expert and founder of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) and speak to Muyhiddin Junaidi, the head of Muhammadiyah’s international relations and leader of the trip, to learn first-hand how the Indonesian delegation ended up in Xinjiang and what they experienced.

Episode Description:
Podcast hosts: Shawn & Tanita

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