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around the world, and has been dubbed “wolf warrior diplo- West Papua continue to suffer from human rights abuses...
macy” by critics and supporters alike. The concept borrows last year, leaders from the Pacific Islands Forum respectfully
from the title of the 2015 action blockbuster ‘Wolf Warrior’, called on the Indonesian government to allow the United Na-
directed by Wu Jing. The sequel in July 2017 became the tions Office of the Human Rights Commissioner to visit West
highest grossing film in China, replicating the militarism and Papua province.”
gung ho bravado that has typified Hollywood productions for In response, a junior Indonesian diplomat launched a
decades. scathing public attack on the Melanesian nation, stating that
At a time of rising geo-political tension between China and Vanuatu’s actions were “shameful” and the country had an
the United States, there is an element of hypocrisy in US at- “excessive and unhealthy obsession” with Indonesian actions
tacks on assertive Chinese diplomacy. The Trump administra- in West Papua.
tion has long ramped up the rhetoric in a series of speeches, “You are not the representatives of the people of Papua,
seeking to rally domestic and international support for the and stop fantasising about being one,” Silvany Austin Pas-
containment of the rising Asian power. Last July, in testimony aribu said. “Indonesia will defend itself from any advocacy of
to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary separatism under the guise of artificial human rights concerns.
of State Mike Pompeo blasted the Chinese Communist Party Papua and West Papua have been irrevocable parts of Indone-
as “the central threat of our times”, and spoke of China’s sia since 1945 ... It is final, irreversible and permanent.”
“decades-long desire for global hegemony.” She added: “We call on the Vanuatu Government to fulfil
The starkest diplomatic vitriol often comes from the Presi- your human rights responsibilities to your people and the
dent himself, through his Twitter account @realDonaldTrump. world. So before you do that, please keep your sermons to
Before he took office, Trump tweeted that “the concept of yourself.”
global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order In following days, Indonesians mounted social media cam-
to make US manufacturing non-competitive”, and that “global paigns to flood Facebook and Twitter with crude propaganda
warming is a total, and very expensive, hoax!” In office, the attacking Vanuatu. The Vanuatu Tourism Office and other
US President has lashed out at a range of targets, mocking social media sites in Port Vila were flooded with comments,
Kim Jong-un as “little rocket man”, claiming that Brussels is a attacking the country for human rights abuses and denouncing
“hellhole” and that nations such as Haiti, El Salvador, and an its leaders.
assortment of African states are “shithole countries.” These activities are the latest episode in a co-ordinated
Even if President Trump loses the US elections, the tone of campaign, with University of Hawaii academic Tarcisius Kabu-
diplomacy will continue to change. As the Chinese newspaper taulaka arguing: “Jakarta is determined to quell discussions
Global Times editorialised on 20 April: “The days when China about West Papua amongst Pacific islanders.”
can be put in a submissive position are long gone. China’s As governments and citizens across the Pacific discuss hu-
rising status in the world requires it to safeguard its national man rights and self-determination in West Papua, Indonesia
interests in an unequivocal way. After all, what’s behind has sought to counter the debate. Indonesian Internet trolls
China’s perceived ‘Wolf Warrior’-style diplomacy is the chang- have bombarded journalists who write about human rights
ing strengths of China and the West. When the West falls short violations in West Papua. Last month, after I posted footage
of its ability to uphold its interests, it can only resort to a of a major demonstration in West Papua, I was rewarded with
hysterical hooligan-style diplomacy in an attempt to maintain crude Twitter and email responses, including one bot that sug-
its waning dignity.” gested I was a “traitor to Indonesia” (interesting notion that a
foreigner can be a traitor to another country, but this is about
Indonesian bot diplomacy harassment, not logic).
The ANZUS allies have been quick to condemn Chinese wolf Last year, an investigation by cyber-researchers Bellingcat
warrior diplomacy, but have been largely silent on similar documented the way these responses are not spontaneous,
behaviour by partners like Indonesia. The art of the theatrical but run through a co-ordinated network of bot accounts on
diplomatic tantrum is not restricted to China. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. The Bellingcat
Since the Pacific Islands Forum first addressed the issue report revealed the campaign was managed by the Jakarta-
of West Papua in 2000, Indonesia has been cranking up its based communications company InsightID, with fake accounts
own brand of aggressive diplomacy. These interventions have disseminating attacks on the United Liberation Movement of
ramped up since the West Papua nationalist movement sought West Papua, and bombarding the social media accounts of
membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, and Indone- journalists and West Papua solidarity activists.
sia gained MSG associate membership in 2015. In response, US social media corporations removed many of
This year, at the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, the automated accounts in October 2019: Facebook deleted
Indonesian diplomats launched a broadside at Vanuatu after 69 accounts, 42 pages and 34 Instagram accounts. However
the formal presentation by Prime Minister Bob Loughman. In new fake accounts continue to spring up, to bombard anyone
his speech, the Vanuatu leader reaffirmed policy adopted by critical of human rights abuses by the Indonesian military.
all leaders at the 2019 Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu, calling
on the Indonesian government to allow a UN human rights UN dramas
delegation to visit West Papua: “The indigenous people of In 2015, USP academics Sandra Tarte and Greg Fry edited

20 Islands Business, November 2020