The world's largest gold mining producer and its top US executive in Indonesia go on trial today for allegedly dumping toxins into a bay and sickening villagers.
Analysts say the case against Newmont Mining Corp will test the cash-strapped government's ability to attract foreign investment while cracking down on environmental crimes.
The Denver, Colorado-based company and Richard Ness, president director of its local subsidiary, Newmont Minahasa Raya, insist they will be cleared of charges that they intentionally or negligently engaged in acts that resulted in pollution.
They say a police report showing high levels of mercury and arsenic in the Buyat Bay on Sulawesi island is flawed.
"We have not done anything wrong," said Ness, 55, who faces a 10-year prison sentence if convicted.
"I am very confident ... we will be exonerated," he said.
Newmont is facing a string of pollution accusations growing out of the company's operations on five continents.
But it is the first time the world's largest gold miner has faced criminal charges for environmental problems and one of the few times Indonesia has dared take a multinational company to court.
The trial in the North Sulawesi capital of Manado, 2,000km northeast of Jakarta, could take several weeks.
It will be, for the most part, a battle over conflicting test results.
The World Health Organization and an initial environment ministry report found the Buyat Bay to be unpolluted, and a government study released in May found that traces of heavy metals in villagers living close to the mine were within normal levels.
But the prosecution, which says Newmont dumped 5.5 million tonnes of pollutants into the water, will present a police report showing the levels of mercury and arsenic are well beyond national standards.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,