“Chinese Worker Facing Trial in Indonesia over Fatal Accident”, 4 August 2020

A Chinese national who works at a nickel smelter in Indonesia’s Southeast Sulawesi province will stand trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter after he allegedly drove a truck over and killed a colleague last month, police said…

The incident came amid public opposition to the recent arrivals of 500 Chinese workers to the province, where they are employed at China-owned nickel smelters.

Lee Shang Bing, 35, allegedly drove a dump truck over the Indonesian mechanic, who was lying under the vehicle, and killed him while the two were doing repair work…

Lee… works as a mechanic at PT Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry (VDNI) in Konawe regency…

The company’s external affairs manager, Indrayanto, declined to comment on the case.

It was the second fatal incident involving Chinese workers in the province this year.

In May, Dong Ming, a Chinese worker at PT Obsidian Stainless Steel (OSS), was charged with manslaughter after his truck allegedly collided with a motorcycle carrying a fellow Chinese and a local colleague, killing them both…

Since June, about 500 Chinese workers have arrived at Konawe to work at VDNI and Obsidian, replacing other Chinese staff whose contracts had expired.

VDNI is a subsidiary of Delong Nickel Industry Co. Ltd, based in Jiangsu, China, while Obsidian is a unit of Singapore-based Hongkong Xiangyu Hansheng Co., Ltd.

The two companies are building nickel smelters in a 5,500-hectare (13,590-acre) industrial estate in Konawe.

Their arrivals prompted rallies by students and others who fear that the Chinese will take jobs from locals. They also said the new workers could spread coronavirus at a time when the country is struggling to contain the pandemic…