A lack of oversight of the operations of a Chinese majority-owned and operated private airport in Indonesia’s nickel-processing region of Morowali poses a potential threat to the country’s sovereignty and economic stability, its defence minister has warned.
Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin raised concerns during the TNI (Indonesian Armed Forces) Integrated Exercise in the region on Nov. 20, claiming the airport was “operating without any state apparatus” on site.
The absence of government officials at such a critical infrastructure facility could expose the country to “economic sovereignty” risks, he said, adding that a facility operating without a state presence was an “anomaly.”
“This republic must not have a republic within it. We must uphold all provisions without looking at the background of where they come from,” Sjafrie said in a written statement quoted from the Ministry of Defence website on Nov. 26….
A ‘State Within a State’: Indonesian Minister Sounds Alarm Over Unsupervised Chinese-Owned Airport
