Protesters Decry Treatment of Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia
Nearly 500 demonstrators gathered Friday morning in front of the Indonesian Consulate on Wilshire Boulevard to protest what they called that government’s failure to protect ethnic Chinese in Indonesia.
The demonstration was peaceful and Wilshire Boulevard was closed between Normandie and Mariposa avenues for about three hours to accommodate the crowd, police said.
Earlier this year, angry looters in Indonesia targeted thousands of Chinese-owned businesses and residences to vent their frustration over that country’s economic crisis. Indonesian Chinese make up a minority of the country’s population but own a disproportionate amount of its assets.
The rally was organized by Chinese student and scholar groups from UCLA, Caltech, USC, UC Irvine and UC Riverside, said Daniel Gu, president of the Chinese Students and Scholars’ Assn. at UCLA. Demonstrations were also held in Chicago, Boston, Houston, Washington and Toronto, he said.
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