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Indonesia and China’s Battery Alliance Must Be Built on Sustainability

In a bold display of ambition and diplomacy, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto stood beside Chinese executives last week to break ground on what is touted as Asia’s largest integrated electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem. Backed by $5.9 billion in ...

China’s Big Bet on Indonesian Nickel Faces a Harsh Reckoning

For years, China raced to secure the critical minerals needed to fuel its economy and the global clean energy transition. Nickel was supposed to be one of the surest bets. Now, one of China’s largest investments in Indonesia’s nickel industry is unraveling—and with it, some of the ...

After Rafale, Now J-10C? Chinese Netizens React to Indonesia’s Ongoing Fighter Jet Procurement Moves

In late May, Indonesia surprised many Chinese military watchers by signing a defense agreement with France, which included the purchase of Rafale fighter jets—despite the J-10C’s widely publicized performance advantage during the ...

Grassroots Diplomacy in Dairi: How a Small Indonesian Community is Challenging China’s Zinc Ambitions

The sounds of mining machinery in the highlands of Indonesia’s North Sumatra province have fallen silent — not due to proactive government intervention or seamless regulatory enforcement, but because of relentless grassroots resistance. A controversial mining project in the Bukit Barisan ...

Australia Says China Anxiety, Geography Driving Closer Indonesia Ties

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday that security anxiety over China was partly driving deepening ties with Indonesia in a region riven by rivalry between Beijing and Washington. His visit to meet counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin in Jakarta came weeks after ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

BRICS Announces Numerous New Initiatives

The BRICS group wrapped up its two-day leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The summit’s final communique is a 16,000-word doorstop that covers numerous issues from economics to education.
The communique avoids any direct mention of the United States, and references to “unilateralism” and other coded criticism are also relatively scarce. Rather, the communique keeps the focus on the BRICS’ vision of the strengthening and reform of the global multilateral system ...

Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C

Many Chinese military fans were surprised when Indonesia announced on May 28th that it had signed a defense agreement with France, including plans to purchase Rafale fighter jets, despite the Chinese J-10C’s impressive performance in the much-discussed 2019 India-Pakistan aerial skirmish. In that engagement, Pakistan’s J-10C reportedly ...

China, Indonesia Sign Broad Cooperation Agreements

Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto signed memoranda of understanding this weekend, which could result in broad-based cooperation. They pledged to work together on boosting tourism, agricultural exports, traditional and contemporary medicine, investment, and media collaboration. This cooperation ...

Indonesia’s Prabowo Calls for Closer Ties With China While Signaling Drift From the United States

At a moment when many middle-power states are intentionally avoiding rhetoric that could draw their countries into the rivalry between the United States and China, Indonesia's Prabowo Subianto went the other way this weekend with a full-throated embrace of Beijing that also appeared intended to send a powerful ...

Active Non-Alignment in the Era of U.S.-China Rivalry

From Panama to Kenya to Indonesia, a growing number of developing countries are being pulled into the intensifying rivalry between China and the U.S. For these middle powers, the stakes are high as they must carefully navigate the tension to avoid ...

Indonesia, China Agree to Bolster Ties Ahead of ASEAN Summit

Chinese Premier Li Qiang warned on Sunday that the rise of "unilateralism and protectionism" could threaten the global economic and trade order, as he  reaffirmed Beijing's ties with Jakarta on Sunday during his visit to Indonesia ahead of a regional summit in Kuala Lumpur. ...

Critical Mineral Resource Nationalism: What It Means for China and the Global South

Driven by the accelerating global energy transition, resource-rich countries are actively asserting greater control over their critical minerals—lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and rare earths—through a policy shift known as resource nationalism. While the framing of resource nationalism came from global north countries that dislike policies by ...

Silence on AUKUS: A Missed Opportunity in the Indonesia–China Strategic Dialogue

What wasn’t said in Beijing last week may prove far more consequential than what was. At their first-ever 2+2 ministerial-level dialogue, China and Indonesia marked 75 years of diplomatic ties with warm words and ceremonial handshakes at the prestigious Diaoyutai Guesthouse.  ...
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