May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia

E39186

anti-Chinese incident mass violence event pogrom racially motivated violence riot

The May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia were a wave of violent unrest marked by widespread attacks, looting, and assaults targeting the ethnic Chinese minority amid the country’s political and economic crisis.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
May 1998 Jakarta riots	2
Kerusuhan Mei 1998	1
May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia canonical	1
May 1998 riots	1
May 1998 riots of Indonesia	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T304656 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia
Context triple: [Chinese Indonesians, notableEvent, May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia]

A. Madiun Affair
The Madiun Affair was a 1948 communist-led uprising in East Java that was violently suppressed by the Indonesian government, marking a key turning point in the struggle over Indonesia’s post-independence political direction.
B. Battle of Surabaya
The Battle of Surabaya was a major 1945 clash between Indonesian nationalists and British-led Allied forces in East Java, widely regarded as a pivotal and symbolic moment in Indonesia’s struggle for independence.
C. Indonesian National Revolution
The Indonesian National Revolution was the armed and diplomatic struggle from 1945 to 1949 through which Indonesia fought to end Dutch colonial rule and secure its independence.
D. Borneo Confrontation
The Borneo Confrontation was a mid-1960s undeclared conflict between Indonesia and the newly formed Malaysia, involving British Commonwealth forces in counter-insurgency and border security operations on the island of Borneo.
E. Black September conflict
The Black September conflict was a violent confrontation in 1970–1971 between the Jordanian government and Palestinian armed organizations that reshaped the Palestinian resistance movement and regional politics in the Middle East.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia
Target entity description: The May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia were a wave of violent unrest marked by widespread attacks, looting, and assaults targeting the ethnic Chinese minority amid the country’s political and economic crisis.

A. Madiun Affair
The Madiun Affair was a 1948 communist-led uprising in East Java that was violently suppressed by the Indonesian government, marking a key turning point in the struggle over Indonesia’s post-independence political direction.
B. Battle of Surabaya
The Battle of Surabaya was a major 1945 clash between Indonesian nationalists and British-led Allied forces in East Java, widely regarded as a pivotal and symbolic moment in Indonesia’s struggle for independence.
C. Indonesian National Revolution
The Indonesian National Revolution was the armed and diplomatic struggle from 1945 to 1949 through which Indonesia fought to end Dutch colonial rule and secure its independence.
D. Borneo Confrontation
The Borneo Confrontation was a mid-1960s undeclared conflict between Indonesia and the newly formed Malaysia, involving British Commonwealth forces in counter-insurgency and border security operations on the island of Borneo.
E. Black September conflict
The Black September conflict was a violent confrontation in 1970–1971 between the Jordanian government and Palestinian armed organizations that reshaped the Palestinian resistance movement and regional politics in the Middle East.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	anti-Chinese incident ⓘ mass violence event ⓘ pogrom ⓘ racially motivated violence ⓘ riot ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Kerusuhan Mei 1998 ⓘ linked to: May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia May 1998 Jakarta riots ⓘ linked to: May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia May 1998 riots ⓘ linked to: May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia
cause	1997–1998 Indonesian financial crisis ⓘ Asian financial crisis ⓘ linked to: Asian financial crisis of 1997–1998 political crisis in Indonesia ⓘ widespread public anger at Suharto regime ⓘ
characteristic	arson of shops and malls ⓘ mass rapes allegations ⓘ physical assaults ⓘ sexual violence against women ⓘ widespread looting ⓘ
country	Indonesia ⓘ
endTime	1998-05-15 ⓘ
followedBy	political reforms in Indonesia ⓘ resignation of President Suharto ⓘ
hasContext	Reformasi movement in Indonesia ⓘ fall of Suharto ⓘ
hasEthnicDimension	anti-Chinese sentiment in Indonesia ⓘ
investigatedBy	Indonesian Joint Fact-Finding Team ⓘ
location	Jakarta ⓘ Medan ⓘ Surakarta ⓘ other Indonesian cities ⓘ
mainTarget	ethnic Chinese Indonesians ⓘ
numberOfDeaths	approximately 1,000–1,200 ⓘ over 1,000 ⓘ
numberOfInjured	thousands ⓘ
opposedBy	Indonesian human rights groups ⓘ international human rights organizations ⓘ
partOf	1998 Indonesian political crisis ⓘ linked to: fall of Suharto
perpetrator	anti-Chinese mobs ⓘ looters ⓘ rioters ⓘ
propertyDamage	burning of shopping malls ⓘ extensive destruction of shops and buildings ⓘ
result	heightened fear among Chinese Indonesians ⓘ international condemnation ⓘ large-scale emigration of Chinese Indonesians ⓘ pressure for human rights investigations ⓘ
startTime	1998-05-12 ⓘ
victim	Chinese Indonesian civilians ⓘ Chinese-owned businesses ⓘ Chinese-owned homes ⓘ

How these facts were elicited