China Earns a Black Eye in Indonesian Palm Oil

Negative socio-environmental impact of growing Chinese ownership

By: Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat and Yeta Purnama

In early March last year, the local parliament building in Sintang in West Kalimantan was surrounded by dozens of local contract farmers who blocked the access road, protesting oil palm companies that were allegedly illegally seizing land for additional plantations, forcing low concession fees on smallholder…