wellington, new zealand — New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made a “formal and unreserved” apology in Parliament on Tuesday for the widespread abuse, torture and neglect of hundreds of thousands of children and vulnerable adults in care.

“It was horrific. It was heartbreaking. It was wrong. And it should never have happened,” Luxon said, as he spoke to lawmakers and a public gallery packed with survivors of the abuse.

An estimated 200,000 people in state, foster and faith-based care suffered “unimaginable” abuse over seven decades, a blistering report released in July said at the end of the largest inquiry ever undertaken in New Zealand.

“For many of you it changed the course of your life, and for that, the government must take responsibility,” Luxon said.

“Words do matter, and I say these words with sincerity: I have read your stories, and I believe you,” he added. The prime minister was apologizing on behalf of previous governments too, he said.

The results were a “national disgrace,” the inquiry’s report said, after a six-year investigation believed to be the widest-ranging of comparable probes worldwide. Of 650,000 children and vulnerable adults in state, foster and church care between 1950 and 2019 — in a country that today has a population of 5 million — nearly a third endured physical, sexual, verbal or psychological abuse. Many more were exploited or neglected.

They were disproportionately Maori, New Zealand’s Indigenous people.

In response to the findings, New Zealand’s government agreed for the first time that historical treatment of some children in a notorious state-run hospital amounted to torture and pledged an apology to all those abused in state, foster and religious care since 1950.

Luxon’s government was decried by some survivors and advocates earlier Tuesday ahead of the apology for not yet having divulged plans for the financial compensation of those abused.
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Taipei, Taiwan — Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. has secured another term in office after defeating former President Tommy Remengesau Jr. in its Nov. 5 election that was closely monitored. Palau sits on the front line of competition for geopolitical influence between the United States and China in the Pacific Ocean.

While election authorities still haven’t finished counting absentee ballots, Whipps has won the vote with one of the biggest margins in Palau’s electoral history, 57.5%. Remengesau, who is Whipps’ brother-in-law, took 41.3%.

Whipps thanked supporters for allowing him to continue “building on the progress” that his administration has achieved over the last four years.

“Your decision to grant me a second term as president is a responsibility I hold with the utmost respect,” he said in a statement shared with VOA on Monday.

The president can only have two consecutive four-year terms and must step down after that, but he can run again after a four-year gap in between.

Remengesau has served a total of four terms already.

Separately, the spokesperson for Palau’s election commission told Radio New Zealand the following day that it was “highly unlikely” that Whipps would lose the election.

Meanwhile, in a concession speech broadcast by a local radio station, the Palau Wave Productions, on November 7, Remengesau said the election is finished and the Palauan people have “spoken through a peaceful and free election.”

Analysts say the outcome shows more Palauan voters support Whipps’ policy agenda, which includes tax reforms and deeper engagement with the United States.

“It seems Palau’s closer relationship with the United States under Whipps Jr.’s leadership makes sense for the majority of Palauans,” said Henryk Szadziewski, an expert on Pacific affairs at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Palau has a population of around 20,000 people and is situated around 890 kilometers (550 miles) east of the Philippines. It is one of three Pacific Island countries that receive significant economic support from the U.S. under agreements known as the Compacts of Free Association, or COFA.

Under the accords, the U.S. provides economic aid worth billions of dollars, while Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia give the U.S. exclusive military access to their land, water and airspace, as well as the right to deny China access to their ports and territorial waters.

In September, U.S. lawmakers passed funding for key provisions in COFA for Palau. The U.S. military is also helping to repair a runway on a World War II-era Japanese airfield on the island of Peleliu and installing two radar systems on Palau. 

Experts say they expect Palau to keep deepening ties with the U.S. during Whipps’ second term and relevant efforts will likely include increasing the frequency of U.S. military visits and enhancing connectivity with Palau.

“There’s going to be a much stronger U.S. presence in terms of military visits, joint actions to combat transnational crime and illegal fishing, and boost transport and digital connectivity,” Meg Keen, a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute in Australia, told VOA by phone.

During his first term, Whipps repeatedly said “presence is deterrence,” referring to the increased U.S. military presence in Palau, and characterized the Pacific island country as “part of the U.S. homeland” when it comes to security.

In an interview with VOA last month, Whipps said U.S. protection plays a key role in safeguarding Palau’s territorial integrity.

“Since Palau is small, having the protection of the United States is important because we see what’s happening now in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China,” he said during an interview at his office in Koror, Palau.

Since 2023, the Chinese and Philippine coast guards have repeatedly confronted each other at several disputed shoals that both sides claim to be their territories. While Beijing views almost the entire South China Sea as its territorial water, a 2016 ruling by an international arbitration court found that most Chinese claims in the South China Sea were invalid. Beijing refuses to abide by the ruling.

While many Palauans support the Whipps administration’s efforts to deepen security ties with the U.S., some political observers say some Palauans are still concerned about the negative impacts associated with the increased U.S. military presence across the Pacific island country.

“Some Palauan people hold this apprehensiveness about the implication of increased U.S. military presence in Palau because they rarely saw U.S. soldiers in military uniforms in the past,” Kambes Kesolei, editor of one of Palau’s main newspapers, Tia Belau, told VOA by phone.

“Some Palauans wonder what they can do to prevent Palau from becoming over-militarized,” he added.  

In addition to deepening ties with the U.S., some analysts say Palau will maintain its diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which could lead to “increased coercive pressure” from China. Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory and has repeatedly vowed to reunite with the island, by force if necessary.

“I expect ties between Palau and Taiwan to remain robust but increasing coercive pressure from the People’s Republic of China, [PRC,] may increase risks for Palau, which will need strong support from the U.S. and like-minded partners to maintain resiliency against PRC coercion,” Parker Novak, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, told VOA in a written response.  

Whipps has accused China of weaponizing tourism against Palau and posing a wide range of threats to the Pacific island country’s national security, including cyberattacks and illegal incursion of Palau’s territorial water by Chinese vessels.

“In 2015 and 2016, tourism numbers from China went through the roof, which helped Palau’s economy grow 30%, but since Palau never switched diplomatic recognition [from Taiwan] to China, that number just basically collapsed in the following years,” Whipps told VOA.

In response to questions about Whipps’ claim that China has pressured Palau to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular press conference on November 4 that only a small number of countries, including Palau, still maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

“China urges these countries to fulfill their obligations under international law, stand on the right side of history, and make right decisions that truly serve their fundamental and long-term interests at an early date,” she said.

While Whipps is likely to remain critical of China’s attempt to coerce Palau, Keen in Australia said the Palauan president is not going to completely “shut the door for China.” “He is very much wary of how China has used land and tourism to build pressure, but if the investment is in the national interests of Palau, he is willing to consider,” she told VOA.
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HONG KONG — Merchants and consumers alike found the Singles’ Day shopping festival Monday less shiny than in years past as e-commerce firms look abroad for growth.

The annual event named by the numeric form of its Nov. 11 date was started by e-commerce platform Alibaba, which offered attractive discounts to entice shoppers to spend big. The extravaganza has since expanded to other platforms like JD.com and Pinduoduo in China as well as abroad.

While Singles’ Day was previously a one-day event, shopping platforms in China now kickstart the festival weeks ahead to drum up sales volume. The festival has also traditionally been regarded as a barometer of consumer sentiment.

But amid China’s lagging domestic economy, dragged down by a real estate crisis and deflationary pressures, consumers no longer go all out on purchases during the shopping extravaganza.

“I only spent a few hundred yuan on daily necessities,” said Wang Haihua, who owns a fitness center in Beijing.

Wang said that the prices offered on e-commerce platforms during Singles’ Day are not necessarily cheaper than usual.

“They’re all tricks and we’ve seen through it over the years,” she said.

Zhang Jiewei, a 34-year-old who runs a barber shop in Xi’an city, echoed Wang’s sentiments, saying that he no longer trust Singles’ Day promotions as some merchants tend to raise the usual price of a product before offering a discount, giving consumers the illusion they are getting a deal.

“I used to buy a lot two or three years ago and I even purchased a mobile phone (during Singles’ Day),” he said.

“I stopped doing that following the pandemic because of less income. I am not going to buy anything this year,” Zhang added.

Some experts say that Beijing’s recent stimulus measures have had little impact to boost consumer confidence.

“People are not interested in spending and are cutting back on big-ticket items,” said Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai. “Since October 2022, the weak economy means that everything has been on discount year-round, 11.11 is not going to bring in more discounts that the month before.”

Rein said he expects low growth for the Singles’ Day shopping festival as consumers tighten their spending in anticipation of difficult economic times ahead.

Categories such as sportswear and fitness, however, have been doing well as customers “trade down a Gucci bag for Lululemon sportswear,” he said.

Platforms like JD.com and Alibaba, which operates e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall, previously used to publish the value of transactions made during the festival, but have since stopped revealing the total figure. While yearly growth used to be in the double digits, estimates of recent figures have dwindled to low single-digit growth.

Syntun, a data provider, estimated that last year’s gross merchandising volume sales across major e-commerce platforms grew just 2% to $156.40 billion, a far cry from double-digit growth before COVID-19.

Merchants who typically take part in the Singles’ Day shopping festivals say the costs of participation no longer pay off, amid high advertising fees and unsatisfactory sales.

Zhao Gao, who owns a garment factory in eastern Zhejiang province, said that after paying advertising costs to e-commerce platforms he would only break even after sales.

“The platforms have so many rules for promotions and customers have become more skeptical,” he said. “As a merchant, I no longer participate in the Singles’ Day promotions.”

Another merchant, Du Baonian who runs a food company processing mutton in Inner Mongolia, said that overall sales in the past year have fallen 15% as consumers downgraded and reduced consumption.

Du said that while he still takes part in the Singles’ Day promotions, the higher expenses do not typically generate returns because of sluggish sales.

“We are seeing shrinking revenue, but advertisement on the platform can help us to maintain our leading sales position,” he said, adding that he was considering advertising on more e-commerce platforms to target more consumers.

Meanwhile, e-commerce platforms grappling with a slowing domestic market have also turned to overseas markets to seek new growth, offering promotions like global free shipping and allowing merchants to sell globally with ease.

Alibaba, for example, said in a blog post on its Alizila site that some 70,000 merchants saw sales double with global free shipping. In markets like Singapore and Hong Kong, new customers also doubled, Alibaba said.
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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwanese businessman Robert Tsao said on Monday he would sue in a Taiwan court senior Chinese officials over sanctions they had placed on him, saying he was seeking to counter China’s intimidation of lawful activity.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, last month said it would punish and sanction Tsao, the retired founder of chipmaker UMC, for alleged criminal and pro-Taiwan independence activities.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the “Black Bear Academy” that Tsao has helped fund was seeking to incite separatism that would endanger cross-strait ties.

Tsao, one of Taiwan’s richest men who has pledged to provide millions to two civilian defense training programs, told a press conference that China was threatening the lawful holding of political views in Taiwan, and his personal safety.

The lawsuit will be lodged in a Taipei court against Song Tao, head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, and also the office’s spokesperson Chen Binhua.

Taiwan courts have no jurisdiction in China and senior Chinese officials do not visit the island.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.

Cheng Wen-lung, one of Tsao’s lawyers, said they understood that neither Song nor Chen would come to Taiwan and there would be no way of enforcing any judgment, but the case was about sending a message to Beijing, given it has been seeking to use legal means to put pressure on Taiwanese persons it does not like.

“Legally, we have to do this,” Cheng said. “Taiwan is in a difficult spot, but we have to work hard. You cannot not do anything.”

Tsao’s team is also looking at suing in a U.S. court under that country’s Alien Tort Claims Act.

China’s announcement against Tsao came as the country’s military staged a day of war games around Taiwan it said were a warning to “separatist acts.” Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

UMC says Tsao has nothing to do with the company any longer having retired a decade ago.
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Beijing — China has published baselines for a contested shoal in the South China Sea it seized from the Philippines, a move that’s likely to increase tensions over overlapping territorial claims.

The Foreign Ministry on Sunday posted online geographic coordinates for the baselines around Scarborough Shoal. A nation’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone are typically defined as the distance from the baselines.

Both China and the Philippines claim Scarborough Shoal and other outcroppings in the South China Sea. China seized the shoal, which lies west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, in 2012 and has since restricted access to Filipino fishermen there. A 2016 ruling by an international arbitration court found that most Chinese claims in the South China Sea were invalid but Beijing refuses to abide by it.

Ships from China and the Philippines have collided several times as part of increased confrontations, and the Chinese coast guard has blasted Philippine vessels with water cannons.

China’s move came two days after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed two laws demarcating the government’s claims in the disputed waters.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said that the delimiting of the baselines was in accordance with a U.N. agreement and Chinese law.

“This is a natural step by the Chinese government to lawfully strengthen marine management and is consistent with international law and common practices,” it said.

The statement added that one of the laws signed by Marcos, the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, violates China’s sovereignty in the South China Sea.

“China firmly opposes it and will continue to do everything necessary in accordance with law to firmly defend its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” the Foreign Ministry said.

China stakes claim to almost the entirety of the South China Sea. It has a series of disputes with several Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines and Vietnam over territory in the waters, which are part of a key shipping route in Asia.
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Hanoi, Vietnam — Vietnamese authorities arrested a pro-democracy activist, state media said, the latest in a crackdown on political dissidents in the southeast Asian country.

Tran Khac Duc, 29, was held on charges of “creating, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items aimed at opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” according to the publication Safeguarding the Law.

He was arrested in September, but authorities only announced his detention through state media on Saturday.

Duc is affiliated with the Assembly for Democracy and Pluralism organization, whose website says it aims to “establish a multi-party democratic system” in the communist nation.

Its website praised Duc as an “intelligent, wise, dynamic and gentle young man” who “firmly believes that Vietnam should progress towards a pluralistic democracy,” maintaining that he is an “informal member” of the group.

It reposted state media’s announcement of Duc’s arrest but did not directly comment on it.

The ADP was founded in 1982 and is led by Nguyen Gia Kieng, an intellectual and former official of the U.S.-allied South Vietnamese government before the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

Kieng — who lives in exile in France — told Radio Free Asia Saturday that ADP members had previously been harassed and beaten by police, but that Duc’s arrest was “unusual.”

It comes less than two weeks after a Vietnamese court sentenced a blogger who criticized the government to 12 years in jail on the same charges.

The country ranks 174th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders campaign group’s World Press Freedom Index. 
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SYDNEY — England cricketing great Ian Botham was saved by his former Ashes rival Merv Hughes after a fall into crocodile-infested waters while on a fishing trip in northern Australia.

Botham, along with Hughes and a group of friends, was on a boat when the accident happened, resulting in some heavy bruising to his torso but no serious injuries for the former England all-rounder.

The 68-year-old Botham reportedly got tangled in some ropes while moving to another boat, causing him to slip headfirst into the Moyle River, 200 kilometers southwest of Darwin in Australia’s tropical north. The river is known to be inhabited by saltwater crocodiles and bull sharks.

Posting about the incident on social media, Botham shared his relief, saying: “My catch of the day was the barra while I was nearly catch of the day for all the crocs and bull sharks…thanks boys for getting me out.”

The two cricket legends, who faced off many times during Ashes series in the late 1980s and early ’90s, have maintained a close friendship over the years.

In a comment to News Corp, Botham compared himself to the Australian film character Crocodile Dundee, saying: “At the end of the day, Crocodile Beefy survived.

“I was out of the water quicker than I went in it. Quite a few sets of eyes were having a peep at me. Luckily I had no time to think about what was in the water. The guys were brilliant, it was just one of those accidents. It was all very quick and I’m OK now.”

There have been three fatal crocodile attacks in Australia this year.
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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korea staged GPS jamming attacks on Friday and Saturday, an operation that was affecting several ships and dozens of civilian aircraft in South Korea, Seoul’s military said.

The jamming allegations come about a week after the North test-fired what it said was its most advanced and powerful solid-fuel ICBM missile, its first such launch since being accused of sending soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine.

The South fired its own ballistic missile into the sea on Friday in a show of force aimed at demonstrating its resolve to respond to “any North Korean provocations.”

“North Korea conducted GPS jamming provocations in Haeju and Kaesong yesterday and today,” Seoul’s joint chiefs of staff said in a statement Saturday, adding that several vessels and dozens of civilian aircraft were experiencing “some operational disruptions.”

The military warned ships and aircraft operating in the Yellow Sea to beware of such attacks.

“We strongly urge North Korea to immediately cease its GPS provocations and warn that it will be held responsible for any subsequent issues arising from this,” they said in the statement.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles in violation of UN sanctions.

It also has been bombarding the South with trash-carrying balloons since May, in what it says is retaliation for anti-Pyongyang propaganda missives sent North by activists.

The South Korean military said Pyongyang also attempted to jam GPS signals in May, but added at the time that it did not hinder any military operations in the South.

In Friday’s drill, South Korea fired a Hyunmoo surface-to-surface short-range missile into the West Sea, which the military said was to show Seoul’s “strong resolve to firmly respond” to any North Korean threats.

The Hyunmoo missiles are key to the country’s so-called ‘Kill Chain’ preemptive strike system, which allows Seoul to launch an attack if there are signs of an imminent North Korean attack.

‘Real risk’

Experts say such jamming attacks can lead to other incidents that could escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula.

“It remains unclear whether there is an intention to divert the world’s attention from troop deployments, instill psychological insecurity among residents in the South, or respond to Friday’s drills,” said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

“However, GPS jamming attacks pose a real risk of serious incidents, including potential aircraft accidents in the worst-case scenario,” he told AFP.

Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP the North’s jamming could be “to shield their own communications and intelligence exchanges during critical military operations” at home and abroad.

Russia and Ukraine

North Korea has become one of the most vocal and important backers of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.

Seoul and the West have long accused Pyongyang of supplying artillery shells and missiles to Moscow for use in Ukraine.

The latest accusations, based on intelligence reports, indicate the North has deployed around 10,000 troops to Russia, suggesting even deeper involvement in the conflict and triggering outcry in Seoul, Kyiv and Western capitals.

Seoul, a security ally of Washington, said last month the presence of North Korean troops in Europe would be a major escalation.

South Korea, a major arms exporter, has a long-standing policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict.

But President Yoon Suk Yeol said this week that Seoul is now not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons directly to Ukraine, given Pyongyang’s military support of Moscow.

On Friday, Seoul’s presidential office said cyberattacks by pro-Russian hacking groups against South Korea have increased following North Korea’s troop dispatch for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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Washington — Indonesia’s newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto set off for China on Friday for his first international trip as president. 

“From Beijing I will fly directly to Washington, D.C., on the invitation of the U.S. president,” said Prabowo upon departing Jakarta. Indonesians often refer to public figures by their first names.

His tour aims to “cultivate good relations with all parties,” Prabowo said. He has stated his ambition to raise Indonesia’s international profile and made early foreign policy moves, including a surprise decision to join Southeast Asia’s largest economy to the BRICS bloc. 

BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, comprises a growing group of emerging economies and is seen as a counterweight to the West. In October, the group added Indonesia as one of its 13 new “partner countries.” 

The move is a shift away from the position taken by Prabowo’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, who took in massive amounts of infrastructure investments from Beijing but remained mostly nonaligned geopolitically.   

Prabowo’s visit comes during a transitional period at the White House, ahead of the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump in January. The White House has not formally announced the visit; however, Jakarta said Prabowo is scheduled to meet U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House early next week. 

Indonesian diplomatic sources who spoke under condition of anonymity told VOA that Prabowo has requested a meeting with Trump. The Trump team has not responded to VOA’s query on whether it will be granted.   

New period of US-Indonesia ties 

Starting in January, both countries will be under the helm of leaders who were democratically elected but have employed authoritarian rhetoric, at a time when Washington is focused on its rivalry with the authoritarian regime in China under Xi Jinping. 

Like Trump, Prabowo made a historical political comeback under unlikely circumstances. He secured a landslide victory after two failed attempts, 26 years after his father-in-law, President Suharto, was ousted from power. This, despite Prabowo admitting he was ordered by Suharto in 1998 to abduct activists protesting the regime.  

Washington was aware of Prabowo’s involvement, and the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations denied Prabowo entry to the U.S., citing human rights concerns. The Trump administration lifted the visa ban and then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper invited then-Defense Minister Prabowo to Washington in 2020.    

With Trump in the White House, analysts say, Jakarta could see more opportunities to expand ties with Washington if Prabowo makes inroads through the right people for the right incentives, given Trump’s history of relying more on personal connections than institutional relationships.   

Personal connections 

Jakarta’s point person for Washington under the first Trump administration was Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, a businessman and retired four-star army general who then served as coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment.    

Luhut developed close ties with Adam Boehler, head of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and a former college roommate of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In 2020, Boehler dangled the promise of a $2 billion investment into Indonesia’s planned sovereign wealth fund.

The plan fell through because the price, recognition of Israel under the Trump administration’s Abraham Accords, was too high for Jakarta, according to an interview Boehler gave to Bloomberg at the end of 2020.   

In Prabowo’s administration, Luhut holds the position of head of the National Economic Council and special adviser on investment affairs. But in a Cabinet of more than 100 officials, his influence has diminished. 

“The deck is being shuffled right now, and we don’t know yet where the cards will land,” said Yeremia Lalisang, assistant professor of international relations at the University of Indonesia. What’s clear, Lalisang told VOA, is that the “pragmatic” Prabowo will be delighted to be welcomed by Trump after being treated as a “human rights criminal” by previous U.S. administrations. 

One possibility to bolster ties under Trump would be for Prabowo to capitalize on the connection between billionaires among Trump’s inner circle. This would include Trump’s wealthiest backer, Elon Musk, and Hary Tanoesoedibjo, an Indonesian tycoon who has partnered with the Trump family on several real estate projects in Indonesia. Both were at Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Tuesday night, celebrating his election victory. 

Tanoesoedibjo, who commonly goes by his initials H.T., would not confirm whether he is facilitating a Trump-Prabowo meeting next week. However, he said, Trump’s victory would bring “positive hope for Indonesia.” 

“Trump’s favorable understanding of Indonesia should be maximalized for the economic benefit of both countries, especially Indonesia’s economic interests,” H.T. told VOA.  

Investing in nickel 

Under Jokowi’s administration, Jakarta courted Musk, head of SpaceX and Tesla, to invest in two key areas: satellites and electric vehicle batteries. Earlier this year, Musk launched SpaceX’s satellite internet service, Starlink, in Bali and Maluku.   

With the Earth’s largest reserves of nickel, Indonesia is eager to develop its EV battery industry, and Prabowo is expected to continue his predecessor’s yearslong effort to lure Tesla to invest. 

The Biden administration has put aside tens of billions of dollars in tax credits to spur the U.S. EV industry, under the Inflation Reduction Act, its signature climate and energy legislation. To qualify for the credit, 40% of the minerals used for battery production for EVs sold in the U.S. must be extracted or processed domestically or in one of its free-trade partners.   

Jakarta has been pushing for a limited free-trade agreement that will allow it to benefit from IRA tax credits. However, its nickel industry is backed by investment from Chinese companies and besieged by environmental concerns, limiting its access to the U.S. market. 

“You might see some of this calculus change during the course of the Trump administration,” said Andreyka Natalegawa, associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Trump has vowed to loosen environmental restrictions. 

U.S.-Indonesia cooperation on nickel is “out there as an objective,” said Ann Marie Murphy, senior research scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University. “If it fails to come to fruition, I think that could be disappointing to both sides,” she told VOA. 

However, Trump, who has made high tariffs on China a central theme of his campaign, will be looking closely at the tariffs’ impact on the EV industry. He has vowed to roll back tax credits available to EV buyers in the U.S.   

He will also be watching bilateral trade deficits. In 2017, his administration placed Indonesia on a watchlist of countries that have a large trade surplus, threatening Jakarta with unspecified consequences if trade was not brought into balance.    

“There’s lots of question marks here that we still need to wait and see to get answers,” Natalegawa told VOA. 

Yuni Salim contributed to this report.
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JAKARTA, INDONESIA — Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is in Beijing Friday for his first official visit to China, where he is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. Experts say he hopes to maintain the personal rapport with the Chinese leaders established by his predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“Presumably, he will be leaning more toward Beijing for economic purposes since Prabowo has ambitious plans for achieving 8% economic growth,” Aristyo Darmawan, a lecturer in international law at Universitas Indonesia, told VOA.

However, Darmawan voiced concern about reports that Prabowo has proposed to collaborate with China on oil exploration in the North Natuna Sea, a portion of the South China Sea that has long been controlled by Indonesia and lies within its Exclusive Economic Zone but is claimed by China.

“I think this is unnecessary and actually dangerous for Indonesia,” he said. “I think Prabowo is keen to have a closer relationship with Beijing, and, therefore, it might indicate how he might respond to any incursion in the North Natuna Sea.”

In his inaugural speech to Parliament on October 20, Prabowo vowed to bolster the defense of Indonesian territory. The next day, Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency drove a Chinese coast guard ship away from a contested area in the North Natuna Sea.

The same ship returned on October 24 and 25, disrupting a survey being conducted by Indonesia’s state-owned oil company, Pertamina. The three intrusions, coming within a week during Prabowo’s first days in office, prompting questions about Beijing’s motives.

Past territorial disputes

Confrontations have dated back for years in the region, which is believed to hold huge, unexploited oil and gas deposits. These prompted then-President Widodo to hold a Cabinet meeting aboard a warship off the Natuna islands in 2016 to assert Indonesia’s sovereignty.

In December 2020, Widodo again visited the Natuna islands amid a stand-off between Indonesian warships and Chinese coast guard vessels escorting 60 fishing boats. Afterward, Indonesia deployed fighter jets and warships to patrol the waters, and it sent a diplomatic note to the Chinese ambassador to Indonesia.

One year later, China demanded that Indonesia stop drilling for oil and natural gas in the sea. A letter from Chinese diplomats to Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry claimed that a temporary offshore rig operated by Indonesia was in Chinese territory.

In 2023, a Chinese coast guard ship escorted a Chinese research ship without permission into North Natuna waters to carry out exploration activities.

Better monitoring

Ario Seno, a researcher at the Indonesian Maritime Security agency, said Indonesia does not have enough manpower and patrol boats to monitor the vast area effectively. This makes it hard to catch trespassing fishing boats or coast guard ships in a timely manner.

To address the problem, the agency is developing a monitoring system using buoys equipped with radar, long-distance surveillance cameras and sonar, which will be connected to its satellite system and the agency’s base.

“Our patrol boats will be able to focus on enforcing the law, so we don’t have to often patrol around in circles and then find nothing. With the existence of these floating surveillance tools, violations can be immediately detected, and the available patrol boats can immediately take action,” Ario said.

Indonesian authorities say the proposed system could be ready by 2026 and will provide major savings in surveillance costs.

China’s lukewarm response

During an October 24 press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian defended China’s behavior in North Natuna, insisting the waters belonged to his country even though Beijing’s expansive claims to the South China Sea have been rejected by an international tribunal.

“China’s coast guard vessel carries out routine patrols in waters under the jurisdiction of China in accordance with international law and China’s domestic laws,” Lin said. “China stands ready to enhance communication and consultation with Indonesia through diplomatic channels and properly handle maritime issues between the two countries.”

A week later, Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Rolliansyah “Roy” Soemirat, said Indonesia’s position on the contested waters “remains unchanged.”

“We continue to have dialogue behind the scenes and other diplomatic efforts to address this issue proportionally with other countries,” he said, adding that Indonesia was in the process of seeking confirmation and exchanging “the most factual” information with the related parties.

Aristyo, the Universitas Indonesia lecturer, said Indonesia should be careful in its talks with China to ensure that Indonesia is treating the issue seriously.

He said that in the past, Prabowo has sent mixed signals regarding the territorial dispute. It’s too early to judge how he will respond as president, but there are expectations he will defend Indonesia’s sovereign waters more forcefully.
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MANILA, Philippines — Typhoon Yinxing battered the northern Philippines with floods and landslides before blowing away from the country on Friday, leaving two airports damaged and aggravating a calamity caused by back-to-back storms that hit in recent weeks.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from Yinxing, the 13th major storm to hit the disaster-prone Southeast Asian archipelago this year.

The typhoon, locally called Marce, was last tracked over the South China Sea about 100 kilometers west of the northern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte with sustained winds of up to 150 kph and gusts of up to 205 kph, according to government forecasters. It is expected to weaken further before hitting Vietnam.

The typhoon flooded villages, toppled trees and electricity poles, and damaged houses and buildings in Cagayan province, where Yinxing made landfall Thursday afternoon, provincial officials said. More than 40,000 villagers were evacuated to safer ground in the province.

In the northernmost island province of Batanes, Gov. Marilou Cayco said Yinxing’s fierce winds and rain blew away roofs of houses and damaged seaports and two domestic airport terminals.

More details of damage, including in two northern mountain towns hit by landslides, were expected after provinces battered by the typhoon complete an assessment, officials said.

The new damage will complicate recovery efforts from two powerful storms that lashed the northern region in recent weeks.

Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Kong-rey left at least 151 people dead in the Philippines and affected nearly 9 million others, mostly in the northern and central provinces. More than 14 billion pesos ($241 million) in rice, corn and other crops and infrastructure were damaged.

Trami dumped one to two months’ worth of rain in just 24 hours in some regions. In the hardest-hit province of Batangas, south of Manila, at least 61 people died in floods and landslides.

More than 630,000 people were still displaced due to Trami and Kong-rey as of Thursday, officials said, including 172,000 who remained in emergency shelters as Yinxing blew across the country’s mountainous north.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. decided not to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru next week to focus on recovery efforts, Communications Secretary Cesar Chavez said.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages and caused ships to run aground and smash into houses in the central Philippines. The archipelago also lies in a region often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. 
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SEOUL, South Korea — A fishing boat capsized and sank off the coast of South Korea’s Jeju island on Friday, leaving at least two people dead and 12 others unaccounted for, coast guard officials said.

Nearby fishing vessels managed to pull 15 crew members out of the water, but two of them were later pronounced dead after being brought to shore. The other 13 did not sustain life-threatening injuries, said Kim Han-na, an official at Jeju’s coast guard.

She said 27 crew members -– 16 South Koreans and 11 Indonesians -– were on the 129-ton boat, which left Jeju’s Seogwipo port late Thursday to catch mackerel.

The coast guard received a distress signal at around 4:30 a.m. Friday from a nearby fishing vessel that conducted rescue efforts as the boat sank about 22 kilometers northwest of the island. The rescuers were slowed by strong winds and waves of about 2 meters.

At least 30 vessels and 13 aircraft from South Korea’s coast guard, police, fire service and military were deployed as of Friday morning to search for survivors. They were being assisted by 13 civilian vessels.

Jung Moo-won, Jeju coast guard’s director of security and safety, said rescue workers have confirmed the location of the sunken boat and have dispatched divers to search the vessel.

The two crew members who died were South Koreans. Of the 13 survivors, nine were Indonesians, Jung said. Among the 12 missing, 10 were South Koreans. Jung said South Korean officials contacted the Indonesian Embassy to reach the families of the Indonesia crew members.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for officials to mobilize all available resources to find and rescue the missing crew members, his office said. 
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