Opinion | Why Indonesia’s pro-Beijing Chinese newspapers are on a slow decline

Many Chinese newspapers in Indonesia support Beijing’s views, including on Taiwan and Hong Kong, as long as they do not clash with Indonesia’s interests

But the Chinese press has little influence on the local Chinese community, and its future is in doubt due to the shrinking readership and advertising revenue

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A vendor holds a copy of the ‘Indonesia Shangbao’ newspaper in Jakarta. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:00am, 1 Sep 2020Updated: 12:43pm, 1 Sep 2020

During Suharto’s reign of Indonesia from 1966 to 1998, the Chinese language was virtually eliminated.

Publications and schools were shut, meaning Chinese-Indonesians under the age of 55 today are usually unable to read the language.

Therefore, the only readers of Indonesia’s Chinese-language newspapers and magazines – which began re-emerging after the dictator’s fall – are usually older Chinese-Indonesians and recent migrants from China, or totoks.

Nevertheless, there is still a small, if declining, demand for Chinese newspapers, especially from the older generation who have purchasing power.

Pro-Beijing, to an extent

In Indonesia, the reporting in all six Chinese-language newspapers – four in Jakarta, one in Surabaya and one in Medan – is regional, if not global in orientation, and the rise of China appears to have had a major impact on them.

Since China no longer stresses the communist ideology overseas, many Chinese-Indonesian newspapers find it easier to accept Beijing.