THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF “WEST PAPUA” ISSUE AND ITS IMPACT ON INDONESIA’S POLICY TO THE SOUTH PACIFIC REGION Floranesia Lantang1 and Edwin M. B. Tambunan2 1,2 Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Pelita Harapan University MH Thamrin Boulevard 1100, Kelapa Dua, Tangerang Banten 15811, Indonesia 1
[email protected], 2
[email protected] Received: 12th May 2020/ Revised: 20th May 2020/ Accepted: 01st June 2020 How to Cite: Lantang, F. and Tambunan E. M. B. (2020). The Internationalization of “West Papua” Issue and Its Impact on Indonesia’s Policy to the South Pacific Region. Journal of ASEAN Studies, 8(1), 41-59, https://doi.org/10.21512/jas.v8i1.6447 ABSTRACT This research argues that the internationalization of "West Papua" issue through social media has contributed to a shift of Indonesia's policy to the South Pacific region from ignorance to initiative approach. Underlying this argument is a growing concern of Indonesia regarding the use of social media by Papuan pro- independence activists that resulted to the increasing awareness and support towards the independence of West Papua from Pacific countries as human rights problems become the highlight of West Papua’s issue. The method used in this research was qualitative research method focusing on descriptive analysis of the internationalization of West Papua issue on social media. This research results show that initiative approach from Indonesia is merely narrowing the gap of the issue instead of reducing the internationalization of the West Papua issue. Keywords: West Papua, Indonesia, South Pacific Region, Social Media INTRODUCTION Papua or internationally known as "West Papua" remains a long-standing sensitive issue of Indonesia when dealing with the South Pacific region.