Indonesia’s Evolving Perception of China

Indonesia’s Evolving Perception of China

The findings from ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s State of Southeast Asia 2024 survey present a nuanced picture of Indonesian perceptions towards China. While the data indicates a notable increase in China’s influence across Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, the underlying sentiments reflect a complex interplay of economic opportunities, geopolitical concerns, and socio-cultural affinities. According to the … Read more

How Will Chinese Investors Navigate Indonesia’s Post-election Risks?

How Will Chinese Investors Navigate Indonesia’s Post-election Risks?

Over the past ten years, China has emerged as a significant foreign investor in Indonesia. Between 2019 and 2022 alone, according to data from the Ministry of Investment, Chinese companies invested $20.9 billion across 9,080 projects in the country. Chinese investments in Indonesia can be categorized into two distinct groups. The first are those of … Read more

Indonesia Police to Charge 2 Chinese Nationals in Furnace Explosion at Nickel Plant on Sulawesi

Indonesia Police to Charge 2 Chinese Nationals in Furnace Explosion at Nickel Plant on Sulawesi

Indonesian police on Monday named two Chinese nationals as suspects in the explosion of a smelting furnace at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on Sulawesi Island that killed 21 workers and injured dozens of others. Four Chinese and nine Indonesian workers died instantly on December 24 when the furnace at PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel, or … Read more

The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway: Indonesia’s Lessons Learned 

Indonesian President Inaugurates Southeast Asia’s First High-speed Railway

It would be an understatement to say that October was a momentous month for China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Beijing celebrated the initiative’s 10th anniversary by holding the third Belt and Road Forum; around the same time, its signature high-speed railway (HSR) in Indonesia became operational. The launch of “Whoosh,” the Jakarta-Bandung HSR, on … Read more

Indonesia Fast-Tracks Its Electric Vehicle Ambitions

Indonesia Fast-Tracks Its Electric Vehicle Ambitions

Advertisement Leaping up from his chair, Rachmat Kaimuddin begins to sketch out on a whiteboard the various stages of the complex supply chain for electric vehicles (EVs). From his office in the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Indonesia’s point man for its EV industrial policy lays out a vision of nickel ore flowing … Read more

Chinese Workers in Indonesia Need Protection, Too

Chinese Workers in Indonesia Need Protection, Too

Advertisement Recently, Project Multatuli, an independent media organization in Indonesia, published a detailed report examining the conditions faced by Indonesian and Chinese workers at nickel processing plants owned by the Chinese firm Jiangsu Delong, including PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry (PT GNI) and PT Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry in Sulawesi. The report, which was based on … Read more