US-Funded Riots Target Indonesia (or, NED is Alive and Well…) 

US-Funded Riots Target Indonesia (or, NED is Alive and Well…) 

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in May during the Singapore-based Shangri La Dialogue the US would focus more on the, “Indo-Pacific” region after years of distractions waging war and regime change elsewhere around the globe. 

Source: Remarks by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the 2025 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore (As Delivered) 

Since then, there has been a border war between Thailand and Cambodia precipitated by US-backed politicians on both sides of the border, and now violent “student protests” in Indonesia similar to US-sponsored riots in Hong Kong and Thailand in recent years. 

Known Western government funded (including US NED-funded) media organizations, “rights groups,” and others (like Remotivi, Project Multatuli and Jakarta Legal Aid) in Indonesia are openly backing the protests and attacking the current government. 

Sources: Project Multatuli admits on its site collaboration with Open Society and a variety of NED-adjacent funding tools used by the US for political interference worldwide: Collaborations

Remotivi and Project Multatuli are both mentioned as being disrupted by temporary NED funding freezes earlier this year: ‘Without us, no scrutiny’: Indonesia’s independent media count cost of US funding cuts

Their social media presence has spent the duration of the protests condemning the government and police and encouraging unrest. The same formula of violent protests forcing police responses, leading to injured or dead protesters, thus increasing the size and violence of the protests is in motion. The same US color revolution gimmicks – using colors, flags, pop culture symbols for protest branding are also being used. In Thailand it was the “Hunger Games” and “Harry Potter,” in Indonesia, the BBC boasts of “One Piece” pirate flags being flown. 

Source: How a cartoon skull became a symbol of defiance in Indonesia

The goal at best is to install a client regime willing to transform Indonesia into a Ukraine-style battering ram against China, and at a minimum, destabilize the nation and reduce its utility in both China’s and all of Asia’s rise.

Brian Berletic: Twitter

Previously:

Tensions soar across Indonesia as protests against police erupt in multiple cities

Thai-Cambodian Conflict Only Suits American Interests

Tensions soar across Indonesia as protests against police erupt in multiple cities

Tensions soar across Indonesia as protests against police erupt in multiple cities

The unrest came after a video on social media apparently showing the death of the motorcycle taxi driver during Thursday’s clashes shocked the nation and spurred an outcry against the security forces.

Witnesses told local television that the armored car from the National Police’s Mobile Brigade unit suddenly sped through the crowd of demonstrators and hit Kurniawan, causing him to fall. Instead of stopping, the car ran over him.

Related:

Prabowo Criticizes Police as Protest Death Fuels Jakarta Unrest

Read More »

[Anonymous] US official accuses Russia and China of blocking Asia leaders’ statement

Full video

US official accuses Russia and China of blocking Asia leaders’ statement

WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Russia and China blocked a proposed consensus statement for the East Asia Summit drafted by Southeast Asian countries, mainly over objections to language on the contested South China Sea, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday.

Read More »

U.S. proxies target Chinese Convoy near Karachi International airport days before the SCO meeting in Pak

YouTube

China says two citizens killed, one injured in Pakistan ‘terrorist attack’

In August, the BLA launched coordinated attacks in the province, in which more than 70 people were killed. It has claimed attacks in Balochistan, including the killing of seven barbers in Gwadar in May and the April killings of several people abducted from a highway.

The BLA specifically targets Chinese interests – in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea – accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad to exploit the province.

In March this year, five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani national were killed in an attack near the China-backed Dasu hydropower project. Nine Chinese engineers were killed in a similar attack near Dasu in 2021.

The BLA has also attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.

The Port Qasim project involves the construction of two power plants near Karachi and is funded by China.

Pakistan is due to host the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in two weeks.

Related:

Balochistan Liberation Army

What’s Behind Regime Change in Bangladesh

Violent regime change in the South Asian country of Bangladesh unfolded rapidly and mostly by stealth as the rest of the world focused on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, growing tensions in the Middle East and a simmering confrontation between the US and China in the Asia-Pacific region.

What’s Behind Regime Change in Bangladesh (archived)

Related:

The Partition of South Asia Strikes Again

There is a problem, fundamentally, in viewing the regime change in Bangladesh as a ‘stand-alone’ event. The caveat must be added right at the outset that when it comes to processing situations, nothing happens for no reason at all. There is very little awareness in India, especially in the media, about what has been going on. Mostly, it’s ‘cut-and-paste’ job culled out from the jaundiced western accounts from a new Cold War angle.

Clear signs of US trying to topple Sheikh Hasina govt: Regime change operation underway in Bangladesh and why India should be alert

The Genocide the U.S. Can’t Remember, But Bangladesh Can’t Forget

Vladimir Putin Promotes Traditional Culture over “Cancel” Culture – English Subtitles

Michael Rossi Poli Sci

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the plenary session of the 9th St Petersburg International Cultural Forum – the Forum of United Cultures.

His opening remarks note the value of traditional national culture in forms of art, literature, music, language, and values, while noting the growing trend in Western countries of “cancel culture” that, in his view, deviates from historical development and contribution.

This opening address is part of a two-hour segment devoted to the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, which Putin was the main guest at the Plenary Session.

The remaining parts will be uploaded in 25 – 30 minute segments that include questions and comments from participating members of the audience.

The whole series is available in a new Playlist “2023 St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum“.

In original Russian with English subtitles

Recorded November 17, 2023

Original video and transcript

Vladimir Putin Promotes Traditional Culture over “Cancel” Culture – English Subtitles

Iran: The West Prepares Yet Another Regime Change War

13-11-2023: In what seems to be rather convenient, a war between the Israeli state and Palestine has broken out, in response to the indiscriminate terrorist acts of Hamas on October 7. It comes just at the time when the NATO armed Nazified forces in Ukraine had come to a standstill with a completely failed “offensive” in which the Western proxies reportedly lost 90 000 servicemen dead, 600 destroyed tanks and around 1900 armoured vehicles.[1] Following on from a fraudulent “Covid pandemic”, and NATO’s blundering proxy war against Russia, “all of a sudden” the Israel/Palestine issue has taken the headlines. Yet this latest scenario, which has reportedly taken around 9000 Palestinian lives[2] alongside around 1300 Israeli lives[3] is arguably one more deadly ploy to provide cover for another catastrophe – a US led war for regime change on the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). In what appears as a grotesque bait and switch, Washington and its imperialist allies have set off a powder keg situation backed by 75 years of injustice against Palestine as a foil for Wall Street to finally be given an excuse to topple the Iranian revolution which has been a thorn in their side since 1979.

Iran: The West Prepares Yet Another Regime Change War

Related:

The WSWS, Iran’s economy, the Basij & Revolutionary Shi’ism: an 11-part series (archived)