Jakarta, Indonesia — Deforestation at one of Indonesia’s largest nickel processing hubs is threatening an Indigenous group that is among the country’s last uncontacted tribes, rights groups allege.

Nickel is a key component in the batteries of electric vehicles, and Indonesia is both the world’s largest producer and home to the biggest known reserves globally.

The government is keen to boost output, but there are growing concerns about the environmental consequences and impact on local residents.

Two NGOs told AFP that mining operations in North Maluku province are endangering the O’Hongana Manyawa people by stripping forests and pumping pollution into surrounding waters.

The Weda Bay nickel mine on Halmahera island — by some estimates the largest in the world — has left the Indigenous group encircled, said Syamsul Alam Agus, an advocate at the Association of Indigenous Peoples’ Defenders.

“They are surrounded… their territory is controlled,” he told AFP.

While some of the community have settled over decades, an estimated 300-500 people from the group maintain a nomadic, hunter-gatherer existence isolated from outsiders.

As they lose more land and sources of food, they are being forced into more human contact, potentially exposing them to novel diseases, experts said.

“The world has become apocalyptic for the O’Hongana Manyawa,” said Callum Russell, an advocacy officer at Indigenous rights NGO Survival International.

They are being “forced to essentially surrender” their lifestyle and “often come out to beg for food,” he told AFP.

‘This is our home’

Apparent encounters between the tribe and mine workers have recently circulated on social media, sometimes going viral in Indonesia.

In one, two men hold spears as they apparently face off against workers and a bulldozer. Another shows a man and two women appearing to approach mine workers to ask for food.

AFP could not immediately verify the videos but Dewi Anakoda, a local environmentalist who describes herself as a “companion” of the O’Hongana Manyawa, confirmed they are authentic.

“It’s not them entering the concession area but Weda Bay Nickel that entered their area,” she told AFP.

“They have always lived in the forest. They say, ‘this is our territory, this is our home. We never bother you, why do you disturb us?'”

Weda Bay began operations in 2019, with the deposits being developed by Indonesian company PT Weda Bay Nickel.

The firm is majority-owned by Strand Minerals, whose shares are divided between French mining giant Eramet and Chinese steel major Tsingshan.

According to Eramet, about 6,000 hectares of Weda Bay Nickel’s 45,000-hectare concession will be mined over a 25-year period.

It says around 2,000 hectares have been “exploited,” including for a nickel plant part of the sprawling Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP).

NGO Climate Rights International (CRI) this year found that around 1,400 hectares of forest had already been lost inside Weda Bay Nickel’s concession.

Citing interviews with local residents, it alleged “people living near IWIP have had their land taken, deforested, or excavated by nickel companies and developers without their consent.”

It said sampling of local rivers and coastal waters found contamination from heavy metals believed to be linked to mining.

Deforestation

Weda Bay Nickel, Tsingshan, Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board and its Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Eramet told AFP it is aware of the O’Hongana Manyawa and understands the “critical importance” of responsible mining and the well-being of Indigenous people.

It also touted the project’s economic benefits, including the creation of 14,000 direct jobs and more than $1.52 million in “community investment spending.”

Deforestation is a longstanding problem in Indonesia, and primary forest loss jumped 27 percent in 2023 after falling for several years from a peak in 2015-2016, according to the World Resources Institute.

Much of that is linked to fires or palm oil and wood pulp plantations, but mining-related deforestation accounted for the loss of about 10,000 hectares of primary forest last year, according to conservation start-up The TreeMap.

Concerns about Weda Bay’s environmental cost prompted a campaign urging German firm BASF to abandon plans with Eramet to build a nickel-cobalt refinery project in the area.

The $2.6 billion project was scrapped last month, though both firms said the decision was motivated by changing market conditions. The move does not affect existing operations.

NGOs have called on the government to set up protected areas for the O’Hongana Manyawa.

Dewi warned the development poses a threat to wildlife as well as humans.

It’s “not only the O’Hongana Manyawa tribe, there are Halmahera’s endemic birds, other birds, other habitats,” she said.

“I think in less than 20 years our forests will be completely cleared and we will feel the lasting ecological impact.”
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BEIJING — China posted lower than expected growth in the second quarter on Monday, with all eyes on how top officials gathering for a key meeting in Beijing might seek to tackle the country’s deepening economic malaise.

The world’s second-largest economy is grappling with a real estate debt crisis, weakening consumption, and an aging population.

Trade tensions with the United States and the European Union, which have sought to limit Beijing’s access to sensitive technology as well as putting up tariffs to protect their markets from cheap, subsidized Chinese goods, are also dragging growth down.

And on Monday, official statistics showed the economy grew by only 4.7 percent in the second quarter of the year.

It represents the slowest rate of expansion since early 2023, when China was emerging from a crippling zero-Covid policy that strangled growth.

Analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected 5.1 percent.

Retail sales — a key gauge of consumption — rose just two percent in June, down from 3.7 percent growth in May.

“The external environment is intertwined and complex,” the National Bureau of Statistics said.

“Domestic effective demand remains insufficient and the foundation for sound economic recovery and growth still needs to be strengthened,” it added.

‘A modest policy tweak’

From Monday, President Xi Jinping is set to oversee the ruling Communist Party’s secretive meeting known as the Third Plenum, which usually takes place every five years in October.

Beijing has offered few hints about what might be on the table.

State media in June said the delayed four-day gathering would “primarily examine issues related to further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization,” and Xi has said the party is planning “major” reforms.

Analysts are hoping those pledges will result in badly needed support for the economy.

“The four-day meeting of the country’s top governing body couldn’t come soon enough,” Harry Murphy Cruise, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in a note.

But, he said, “while the case for reform is high, it’s unlikely to be a particularly exciting affair”.

“Instead, we expect a modest policy tweak that expands high-tech manufacturing and delivers a sprinkling of support to housing and households,” he added.

Reform not expected

The People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, appeared to confirm lower expectations when it warned last week that “reform is not about changing direction and transformation is not about changing color.”

Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, said the meeting was “intended to generate and discuss big, long-term ideas and structural reforms instead of making short-term policy adjustments.”

The Third Plenum has previously been an occasion for the party’s top leadership to unveil major economic policy shifts.

In 1978, then-leader Deng Xiaoping used the meeting to announce market reforms that would put China on the path to dazzling economic growth by opening it to the world.

And more recently following the closed-door meeting in 2013, the leadership pledged to give the free market a “decisive” role in resource allocation, as well as other sweeping changes to economic and social policy.

Stubbornly low

Beijing has said it is aiming for 5% growth this year — enviable for many Western countries but a far cry from the double-digit expansion that for years drove the Chinese economy.

But the economic uncertainty is also fueling a vicious cycle that has kept consumption stubbornly low.

Among the most urgent issues facing the economy is the beleaguered property sector, which long served as a key engine for growth but is now mired in debt, with several top firms facing liquidation.

Authorities have moved in recent months to ease pressure on developers and restore confidence, including by encouraging local governments to buy up unsold homes.

Analysts say much more is required for a full rebound, as the country’s economy has yet to bounce back more than 18 months after damaging Covid-19 restrictions ended.
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BEIJING — China and Russia’s naval forces kicked off a joint exercise Sunday at a military port in southern China, official news agency Xinhua reported, days after NATO allies called Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war in Ukraine.

The Chinese defense ministry said in a statement that forces from both sides recently patrolled the western and northern Pacific Ocean and that the operation had nothing to do with international and regional situations and didn’t target any third party.

The exercise, which began in Guangdong province Sunday and is expected to last until mid-July, aimed to demonstrate the capabilities of the navies in addressing security threats and preserving peace and stability globally and regionally, state broadcaster CCTV reported Saturday, adding it would include anti-missile exercises, sea strikes and air defense.

Xinhua News Agency reported the Chinese and Russian naval forces carried out on-map military simulation and tactical coordination exercises after the opening ceremony in the city of Zhanjiang.

The joint drills came on the heels of China’s latest tensions with NATO allies last week.

The sternly worded final communiqué, approved by the 32 NATO members at their summit in Washington, made clear that China is becoming a focus of the military alliance, calling Beijing a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The European and North American members and their partners in the Indo-Pacific increasingly see shared security concerns coming from Russia and its Asian supporters, especially China.

In response, China accused NATO of seeking security at the expense of others and told the alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia. Its foreign ministry maintained that China has a fair and objective stance on the war in Ukraine.

Last week, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter on routine patrol in the Bering Sea also came across several Chinese military ships in international waters but within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, American officials said. Its crew detected three vessels approximately 124 miles (200 kilometers) north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands, which mark a separation and linkage between the North Pacific and the Bering Sea.

Later, a fourth ship was spotted approximately 84 miles (135 kilometers) north of the Amukta Pass.

The U.S. side said the Chinese naval vessels operated within international rules and norms.
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BEIJING — Six people were killed as record rains struck southwest China, state media reported Thursday, as the country endures a summer of extreme weather.

Torrential downpours struck Dianjiang county, near the megacity of Chongqing, from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, state news agency Xinhua said, citing county officials.

State broadcaster CCTV, citing the county flood control office, reported that four people had died in “geological disasters” and a further two had “drowned” as of 1:50 p.m. (0550 GMT) on Thursday.

Xinhua said one of the people had perished after a house collapsed, and at least three had been caught in a landslide.

Nearly 7,000 people have been affected by rainstorms and 170 have been told to evacuate, according to Xinhua.

It added that up to nearly 25.5 centimeters of rain in parts of Dianjiang, the highest daily maximum since records began.

China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, with heavy rains across the east and south coming as much of the north has sweltered in successive heat waves.

The country is the world’s leading emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say drive climate change and make extreme weather more likely.

Beijing has committed to bringing its emissions of planet-heating carbon dioxide to a peak by 2030 and to net zero by 2060.
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BEIJING — Top Chinese officials gather in Beijing on Monday, with all eyes on how they might kickstart lackluster growth at a key political meeting that has traditionally seen officials unveil big-picture economic policy changes.

The world’s second-largest economy is grappling with a real estate debt crisis, weakening consumption, an aging population and geopolitical tensions overseas.

President Xi Jinping will oversee the ruling Communist Party’s secretive Third Plenum, which usually takes place every five years in October, though Beijing has offered few hints about what might be on the table.

State media in June said the delayed four-day gathering would “primarily examine issues related to further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization,” and Xi last week said the CCP was planning “major” reforms.

Analysts are hoping those pledges will result in badly needed support for the economy.

“There are many hopes that this Third Plenum will provide some new breakthroughs on policy,” Andrew Batson of the Beijing-based consultancy Gavekal Dragonomics told AFP.

“China’s government has struggled to execute a successful economic strategy since emerging from the pandemic,” he added.

But he said he did not expect a “fundamental departure from the course Xi has already laid out,” in which technological self-sufficiency and national security outweigh economic growth.

And the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, warned on Monday that “reform is not about changing direction and transformation is not about changing color.”

Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, said the meeting was “intended to generate and discuss big, long-term ideas and structural reforms instead of making short-term policy adjustments.”

The Third Plenum has long been an occasion for the Communist Party’s top leadership to unveil major economic policy shifts.

In 1978, then-leader Deng Xiaoping used the meeting to announce market reforms that would put China on the path to dazzling economic growth by opening it to the world.

And more recently following the closed-door meeting in 2013, the leadership pledged to give the free market a “decisive” role in resource allocation as well as other sweeping changes to economic and social policy.

Growth figures expected

This year’s conclave will begin the same day China is due to release its growth figures for the second quarter.

Experts polled by AFP expect China’s economy to have grown, on average, 5.3 percent year-on-year between April and June.

Beijing has said it is aiming for 5% growth this year — enviable for many Western countries but a far cry from the double-digit expansion that for years drove the Chinese economy.

Authorities have been clear they want to reorient the economy away from state-funded investment and instead base growth around high-tech innovation and domestic consumption.

But economic uncertainty is fueling a vicious cycle that has kept consumption stubbornly low.

Among the most urgent issues facing the economy is a persistent crisis in the property sector, which long served as a key engine for growth but is now mired in debt, with several top firms facing liquidation.

Authorities have moved in recent months to ease pressure on developers and restore confidence, such as by encouraging local governments to buy up unsold homes.

Analysts say much more is required for a full rebound as the country’s economy has yet to bounce back more than 18 months after damaging COVID-19 restrictions ended.

“Short-term stimulus is badly needed to boost the teetering economy,” Nomura’s Ting said.

But, he added, “major steps towards market-oriented reforms might be limited this time.”
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washington — A U.S. plan to boost its Pacific air power is seen by analysts as an effort to reinforce deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and counterbalance China’s attempt to gain dominance in the region.

The U.S. Air Force plans to upgrade more than 80 fighter jets stationed at Japanese bases over the next several years as part of a $10 billion program to modernize its forces there.

The Defense Department announced the plan last week, saying it aims to enhance the U.S.-Japan alliance and bolster deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.

“This is a necessary upgrade that has been planned for some time. And combined with Japan’s own investments, it will help maintain some degree of air power balance between the allies and China’s progress in air force modernization,” said James Schoff, senior director of the U.S.-Japan NEXT Alliance Initiative at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA.

“Without it, the credibility of U.S. deterrent capacity would be much weaker, which could cause Beijing to doubt U.S. seriousness about protecting the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and prompt more aggressive Chinese behavior,” Schoff said.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said it spotted 37 Chinese aircraft near Taiwan on Wednesday as they headed to the Western Pacific for drills with the Shandong aircraft carrier.

Chinese jets and warships have frequently made dangerous maneuvers around the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as a part of its own territory.

Former U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander John Aquilino told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March that China could soon have the world’s largest air force.

China is currently the third-largest air power in the world, behind the United States and Russia.

China’s rapid military modernization efforts have led it to possess more than 3,150 aircraft, of which about 2,400 are combat aircraft, including fighters, strategic and tactical bombers, and attack aircraft, according to the Pentagon’s 2023 report on China’s military power.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA on Monday that “U.S.-Japan relations should not target or harm other countries’ interests and should not undermine regional peace and stability.”

Upgrade designed to help defend Japan

In addition to protecting Taiwan, the upgrade — which includes the advanced F-35 jets — also will help U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ) deter North Korea and defend Japan’s Southwest Islands, said James Przystup, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

Japan has a territorial dispute with China over what it calls the Senkaku Islands and what China calls the Diaoyu Islands.

Japan and Russia also have a dispute over islands off Hokkaido, which Japan calls the Northern Territories and Russia calls the Kuril Islands.

The U.S. aircraft upgrade plan is to modify several deployed F-35B jets stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture south of Hiroshima.

The Misawa Air Base in Japan’s northern Aomori prefecture will see 36 F-16 aircraft be replaced with 48 F-35A jets.

Aircraft will be rotated

At Kadena Air Base in Japan’s southern island of Okinawa, 48 F-15 C/D jets will be replaced with 36 new F-15EX jets. During the upgrades, fourth- and fifth-generation tactical aircraft will be dispatched on a rotational basis, according to the Pentagon.

“The upgrades will provide qualitative and quantitative boosts to the USFJ inventory, which will also enhance the U.S.-Japan alliance’s readiness against China, North Korea and Russia,” said Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, a professor at the University of Tokyo and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Indo-Pacific Security Initiative.

“Benefits will be seen not only in aerial operations but also guarding U.S. and Japanese capabilities for naval and amphibious operations. The platforms are not simply about technological superiority for combat, but also more advanced electronic warfare capabilities to penetrate weaknesses of China, North Korea and Russia,” he said.

China often conducts joint air drills with Russia over the waters near South Korea and Japan. In December, Chinese and Russian jets entered South Korea’s Air Defense Identification Zone, prompting Seoul to scramble fighter jets in response.

David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, said, “Russia has been conducting some combined operations with China on a limited basis recently, so if Russia operates in the Indo-Pacific, it will certainly indicate these systems will contribute to the defense of U.S.-allies’ interests.”

Maxwell said U.S. bases in Japan give the U.S. “a lot of operational flexibility to be able to deal with multiple contingencies, either on the Korean Peninsula or in the South China Sea, or really, anywhere in Asia.”

Okinawa is about 740 kilometers (459.8 miles) from Taiwan and 990 kilometers (615.1 miles) from South Korea’s southern port city of Busan. Kadena, which the U.S. calls “the keystone of the Pacific,” is the largest U.S. installation in the Indo-Pacific.

Zack Cooper, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who served as special assistant to the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy during the George W. Bush administration, said rotating aircraft presence at Kadena during the upgrade transition helps the U.S. disperse them in case of an attack.

“Kadena Air Base is under greater threat than it’s been in decades,” from a range of Chinese capabilities, both ballistic and cruise missiles, he said. “There are a couple of options for how to deal with that. One is for the U.S. to disperse its forces more so that if there was an attack, there would be less concentration of U.S. forces.”
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Beijing — India has no right to carry out development in the area China calls South Tibet, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday in response to a Reuters report on New Delhi’s plans to speed up hydropower projects in the border state. 

“South Tibet is China’s territory,” a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement. 

It said India had no right to carry out development there and the establishment of what India calls Arunachal Pradesh on Chinese territory is “illegal and invalid.” 

Reuters reported on Tuesday that India plans to spend $1 billion to expedite the construction of 12 hydropower stations in the northeastern Himalayan state. 

India’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on China’s statement. 

India says its remote state of Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of the country, but China says it is a part of southern Tibet, and has objected to Indian infrastructure projects there. 

Last week, India Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Kazakhstan where the two agreed to intensify efforts to resolve issues along their border. 
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SYDNEY — Australia, along with the United States and Britain, are accusing a state sponsored Chinese spy agency of cyber espionage.

Authorities in Beijing have rejected the allegations as another attempt to “smear and frame China on cybersecurity.”

The Australian Signals Directorate, the national cyber intelligence agency, has accused a group called APT40 – meaning Advanced Persistent Threat – of widespread hacking on behalf of a branch of China’s Ministry of State Security.  

The agency said Tuesday that the hackers were trying to plunder information by infiltrating old and forgotten computers that were still connected to sensitive networks. Australian officials said the targets were government and business networks, and that the threat was “ongoing.”

It is the first time Australia has directly attributed malicious cyber espionage to a state-sponsored group in China.   

The Australian Signals Directorate’s report was co-authored by Canberra’s Five Eyes security alliance partners; Canada, New Zealand, the United States and Britain, along with Germany, South Korea and Japan.  

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sought to stabilize ties with China after years of diplomatic friction but has insisted there would be areas of disagreements.

Matt Thistlethwaite, Australia’s Assistant Minister for Defense, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Wednesday that the “cyber domain” was becoming an area of conflict and espionage.  

“It has been a non-traditional area of conflict in Ukraine and we are learning a lot of lessons from that,” he said. “That is why the Albanese government is making record investments in bolstering Australia’s cyber capability both in a defense sense and in a non-defense sense as well.”

Analysts have said Australia’s cyber espionage allegations appear to be an escalation of international efforts to deter Beijing’s cyber espionage activities.

China has steadfastly refuted the claims.

On Tuesday, a foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing that the Chinese government was “firmly opposed to such repeated hype about so-called ‘Chinese cyber attacks’ aimed to smear and frame China on cybersecurity.”

Experts have also said the stockpiling of sensitive computer information has made Australia a target for hackers. 

In recent years, many of its major ports, its largest private health insurer and one of its main telecom companies have been targeted by cyber criminals.

Earlier this year, the New Zealand government blamed APT40 for a cyber-attack in 2021 that compromised its parliamentary computer network.  
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Yangon, Myanmar — Eight people were missing after a boat sunk on a river in Myanmar’s commercial hub Yangon, the local fire department said on Wednesday.

The boat sank after an accident at around 8:10 a.m. local time in the Yangon river, it said on its Facebook page.

It did not give details on what had occurred or whether any other vessels were involved.

Local media reported the boat had collided with another vessel.

Nine of 17 people on board had been rescued, and search and rescue operations were underway for the remaining eight people, the fire department said.

Boat accidents are common in Myanmar, a poor country with rudimentary transport and weakly enforced safety regulations.

Vessels ferrying people along the coastline and rivers are often dangerously overcrowded, and accidents can have staggering death tolls. It can also take several days for all bodies to be retrieved.

In 2016, 73 people, including many teachers and students, drowned when their overloaded vessel capsized in central Myanmar on the Chindwin River.
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