Indonesia's president actually had a short 'pull aside talk' with Japan's Shinzo Abe

This article is more than one year old.
Published on July 17, 2019 at 06:30
4 min read
By AFP Indonesia

A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube which claim it shows Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has become a “laughing stock” in Japan for giving a one-minute speech at the G20 summit in Osaka. The claim is misleading; the Japanese TV show was actually discussing the length of a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Jokowi.

The video has been shared repeatedly on Facebook, for example this July 1, 2019, Facebook post, and on YouTube, for example here, where it has been watched more than 5,700 times.

A similar version shared here on Twitter, where it has been viewed more than 18,000 times.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:

A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post

The Facebook post's Indonesian-language caption translates to English as: “There is a local TV station in Japan that ‘for fun’ counts the duration of speeches of state leaders at the G20 Summit…
Funny enough, there is a leader whose speech only lasted for one minute and it became a laughing stock of the programme’s presenter and guests. The country of origin of the leader is Indonesia! What a shame...”

On the top left corner of the Facebook video, which has been viewed at least 1,100 times, there is an Indonesian-language text that says: “The president who is the pride of tadpoles. An embarassment to my country.”

The G20 meeting in Osaka was held from June 28 to June 29, 2019, and was attended by leaders of the world’s major economies, including Jokowi. Here is an AFP report about the event.

This Jakarta Post report published on June 28, 2019, states Jokowi attended the event.

“Tadpoles” is a nickname given to Jokowi’s supporters. Here is a Jakarta Post article about the nickname.

The claim in the posts is misleading; the video actually shows the Japanese television show panellists discussing the duration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s meeting with Jokowi during the G20 summit.

The footage has been captured from a broadcast of Japanese TV show New Joho 7 Days Newscaster.

This video, published on YouTube on June 29, 2019, shows the same segment as seen in the first misleading post, from the six-minute, five-second mark until the seven-minute, three-second mark.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the first misleading post (L) and the YouTube video (r):

During this segment of the programme, presenter Shinichiro Azumi holds up a board with a list that shows the names of G20 leaders whom Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met or was planning to meet during the summit.

Sitting on the far left of the screen is comedian and actor Takeshi Kitano, and on the right is freelance broadcaster Takae Mikumo and the Tokyo bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, Peter Landers.

The segment translates to English as:

Azumi: “During the G20 held in Osaka, Abe did a great job while having a tight schedule of talks to leaders from many countries. It’s a pity that there’s no talk with the South Korean leader. When it comes to Indonesia’s President Joko, it was only one minute. And they supposedly discussed and affirmed an economic partnership agreement.”

Mikumo: “There must have been translators, too.”

Azumi: “It must have been a very brief exchange.”

Kitano: “Maybe 15 seconds each.”

Azumi: “Please let us continue working together on the economy. Let us remain friendly.”

Kitano: “You say all that, and that's all the time you have. ”

Azumi: “So you can see how busy people are at the G20…”

The panellists can then be heard laughing intermittently during the discussion.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued this statement about the meeting between Abe and Jokowi on June 28, 2019.

The first two sentences of the statement read: “On June 28, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, held a pull aside talk with H.E. Mr. Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia, who is visiting Japan to attend G20 Osaka Summit. Both leaders confirmed the completion of the General Review of the Japan-Indonesia Economic Partnership Agreement, and decided to continue the negotiation to amend the Agreement based on the outcomes of the General Review, aiming to conclude it by the end of this year.”

According to this Detik.com report on July 2, 2019, Febrian A. Ruddyard, the director general for multilateral cooperation at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Jokowi gave two speeches at the G20, one lasted five minutes and the other three minutes.

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