How geopolitics is complicating the move to clean energy lasvegassun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lasvegassun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The fate of Indonesia’s unrivaled stocks of nickel a critical mineral used to make batteries for electric vehicles is caught in the conflict between the United States and China.
Much public attention has focused on the plight of Indonesian workers employed in Chinese-owned enterprises. But a new report shows that Chinese nationals face many of the same challenges.
As Indonesia pushes ahead with a plan to be the world's largest nickel producer for electric vehicle batteries, workers at smelter sites allege they face unsafe conditions, which sometimes can be fatal.
Although the details of what led to the violence at the Morowali plant remain unclear, the protest was fuelled by growing anger at the appalling working conditions at nickel smelters in Sulawesi.