Author: Antonia Timmerman

Antonia Timmerman is a Jakarta-based journalist with over 10 years of experience reporting in Southeast Asia. Starting out as a business reporter, Antonia developed a specialization in technology and labor issues. Her articles have been published in Rest of World, South China Morning Post, VICE, Nikkei Asia, and more. Antonia has won multiple awards for her journalism, including two SOPA 2023 Awards for her coverage of nickel and electric vehicle development in Indonesia, and a SABEW 2022 Best in Business Award.

Related Posts

Coal-Free Future: A Diary From China-Indonesia Energy Field Trip

Do you remember when the weather was small talk? It used to be a conversation you would have with a stranger at the bus stop, perhaps about the imminent rain or how unusually hot today is before it became quiet again and your ride arrived.

Chinese Firm Transsion Eyes Indonesia As Top Market, Owes Gaming Community For Success

Transsion Holdings, the world’s fourth largest smartphone maker, is now eyeing Indonesia as its number one focus market in Southeast Asia. Engaging gaming communities, improving after-sales services, and innovative marketing are among Transsion’s top strategies to beat competitors in the archipelago, according to managers in Carlcare, ...

Indonesia Is Handing Out Coal Mines To Religious Groups. Here’s Why China Stands To Benefit

This article is co-authored by Antonia Timmerman, Southeast Asia Editor at the China-Global South Project, Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, Director of the China-Indonesia Desk at the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), and Yeta Purnama, researcher at CELIOS.  Indonesia found ...

U.S., China, Indonesia’s Nickel Gridlock: A Perspective From Below

“Without Indonesia’s nickel, have no future in America,” declared Indonesia’s coordinating minister of maritime and investment affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan in Foreign Policy last month. A bold statement from Indonesia’s top minister. He blasted Washington’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for ...

What Does Non-Alignment Movement Mean to Contemporary Indonesia, and Will It Satisfy China and U.S.?

“Honored to be invited by Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet him in person in Beijing,” Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto tweeted on his official account on Tuesday, 2 April, 2024. Wearing the Indonesian traditional cap “peci”, Prabowo posed and shook hands with the Chinese leader. 

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Plugging into African Agency

After several years of declining funding, the African end of the Belt and Road Initiative seems to be roaring back. The newest Griffith University/Green Development Finance Center data on the Belt and Road Initiative shows that engagement with Africa jumped by 395%, while a few big projects boosted engagement in Nigeria alone more than twelvefold.

These shifts indicate a window of opportunity for African electrification. 60% of Africans still lack ...

Can “Strongman” Prabowo Subianto Take Indonesia’s Nickel Dream Away From China’s Orbit?

Prabowo Subianto, an ex-military commander and former son-in-law of Indonesian dictator Suharto, is finally on his way to the presidency. During the campaign season, Prabowo drummed up the promise that he would continue Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s policies, including the promise of nickel-for-battery developments. Lo ...

Prabowo Subianto Set to Win Indonesia Presidency, Relations With China, U.S. Expected to Remain Stable

The clouds still hadn’t left the sky on Wednesday morning in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta, where millions were preparing to elect their new president and vice president. Parts of the city were flooded due to heavy rains on the previous night, causing some polling stations to ...

Q&A: Indonesia’s EV Success Now Hinges on U.S. & EU. Will Indonesia Be Forced to Pull Away From China?

In November last year, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo met with United States President Joe Biden to talk trade and investment. At the very top of Jokowi’s agenda was to find a way to expand markets for Indonesian nickel-based EV batteries. Jokowi had hoped to secure ...

Southeast Asia: Best Place To Celebrate Chinese New Year Outside China

Chinese migration is one of the oldest and largest movements of people in the world. The latest tide lasted for over 300 years, which intensified in the sixteenth century and again in the nineteenth century due to the Opium Wars. As a result, there are about ...

Indonesia 2024 Election: VP Candidate Bizarrely Frames “Anti-Nickel” as Supporting China

In Indonesia’s second vice presidential debate, Gibran Rakabuming — the eldest son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and running mate of Prabowo Subianto — tried to trap his rival Muhaimin Iskandar by asking the latter’s team’s campaign about lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP), a nickel-free electric vehicle ...

Indonesia 2024 Presidential Election Infographic: Candidates Debate South-South Cooperation, South China Sea, and Foreign Debts

In four weeks, Indonesians will head to the polls. Indonesia’s elections body, the General Elections Commission, is hosting a total of five presidential debates during the campaign season for the candidates to discuss a wide range of topics. The three presidential candidates ...

5 Most Important China Stories of 2023 in Southeast Asia’s Climate Landscape

With the overwhelming war in Gaza and the return of rising COVID-19 cases around the world, as we end the year, it’s easy to lose track of other defining events in the past twelve months.  From China’s river diplomacy in Mekong ...
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