Protests in Indonesia and Nepal: South Asian societies push back against Chinese values in favor of democratic ideals

From August 25 to September 9, a new wave of large-scale anti-government protests erupted in Indonesia, caused by deep corruption in the administration of Prabowo Subianto and his predecessor Joko Widodo.

During the confrontation with the police, at least 10 people were killed, 700 injured, 3,000 detained; 20 protest leaders went missing. President Prabowo himself accused representatives of the “Indonesian mafia” of the nationwide actions, rejecting calls for reforms.

Instead, he limited himself to replacing the finance minister, on whom he placed responsibility for the deterioration of the population’s quality of life.