A video showing the foreign ministers of Indonesia and China signing a bilateral cooperation agreement in October 2023 has surfaced in fake social media posts praising Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo for allegedly paying off all the country’s debts to China in the final months of his presidency. According to debt statistics released by Indonesian financial authorities in March 2024, Jakarta’s debts to Beijing increased during Jokowi’s tenure and currently exceed $21 billion.
“Praise be to God for the process of signing the certificate of full payment of Indonesia’s debt to China,” read the Indonesian sticker text on this clip, posted on the video sharing platform SnackVideo on April 6, 2024.
The 28-second video, which has been viewed more than 56,000 times, features Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yisign documents.
“This is the process of signing the certificate of full repayment of Indonesia’s debt to China. This is truly extraordinary. At the end of Mr. Jokowi’s term, he does unexpected things, guys,” said a male narrator in the video, referring to Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s nickname.
The caption of the post repeats the claim.
The clip was viewed more than 378,000 times after being shared elsewhere on SnackVideo and on TikTok here, here, here and here.
Screenshots of the video were also shared here on TikTok, racking up more than eight million views before the post was deleted.
The fake messages circulated largely among users who appear to be supporters of outgoing President Jokowi, who will complete his term in October 2024.
During Jokowi’s presidency, Beijing helped Jakarta finance its first high-speed railway and develop its nickel industry under the Belt and Road initiative – a decade-old program of Chinese-backed infrastructure projects.
Indonesia has become the largest recipient of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia (archived links here and here).
However, the country has not paid off its debts to Beijing – the video shows officials signing bilateral agreements in October 2023.
Indonesia’s debt to China has ballooned from nearly $7.87 billion in 2014 – the year Jokowi was elected president – to $21.02 billion in 2024, according to the latest report from the Indonesian Central Bank and Ministry of Finance which was published in March 2024 (archived link).
Jokowi’s visit to Beijing
A reverse image search on Google, followed by a keyword search on YouTube, revealed that the clip used in the fake posts matched the 3:01 mark of a longer video posted on October 17, 2023 by the official channel of the Indonesian Presidential Secretariat was uploaded (archived link).
The title of the video states that it shows Chinese President Xi Jinping’s official ceremony to welcome Jokowi during his state visit to Beijing on October 17, 2023.
The video also shows a meeting between the two leaders, attended by several Indonesian ministers, including Retno, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan and State Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir, as well as top Chinese officials such as Wang Yi, head of the country’s state planner. Zheng Shanjie and Trade Minister Wang Wentao.
In the original video, as Retno and Wang Yi are about to sign documents, a male voice can be heard announcing in Indonesian: “They will sign an MoU on the dialogue between the foreign ministers and the ministers of Defence.”
Below are screenshot comparisons of the clip in the fake post (left) and the original video from the Indonesian Presidential Secretariat (right):
On the same day, Indonesia’s Cabinet Secretariat issued a press release about the meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing (archived link).
It said Xi and Jokowi witnessed the signing of ten memoranda of understanding (MoUs), ranging from animal quarantine, healthcare and medicine to investment and defense.
China’s state news agency Xinhua also published a report on the meeting between the two leaders on October 17, 2023, which also noted that they witnessed the signing of the MoUs (archived link).
Neither the video nor the official press reports mention that Indonesia is paying off its debts to China.
There are no credible reports that Indonesia has paid off its debts to China.
