Safety Issues, Poor Construction Plague China’s Belt and Road Initiative Projects

A Chinese worker from the PT Indonesian Tsingshan Stainless Steel Company was sent to the Morowali Regional General Hospital in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia on December 24, 2023. On the same day, an explosion occurred at the Chinese-owned nickel processing plant, resulting in the deaths of 21 workers. STR/AFP

News Analysis

The identification of two Chinese citizens as suspects in a December explosion at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on Sulawesi Island that killed over 21 people has shed light on the issue of safety standards and construction quality associated with projects supported by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).