Research

International Political Economy,
Chinese Capital in Indonesia,
and Sustainability.

I study how investment, industrial policy, and public narratives shape who benefits from cross-border capital in Indonesia. My current work focuses on Chinese development finance, foreign direct investment, and the politics of elite narratives.

The two pieces that define the current research agenda.

Featured Report Co-author

Balancing Risk and Reward: Who benefits from China’s investments in Indonesia?

AidData at William & Mary June 12, 2025 ~$164B tracked

Tracked nearly $70 billion in Beijing-backed development finance from 2000–2023 and over $94 billion in Chinese FDI from 2010–2024, showing which actors benefited from Chinese capital in Indonesia.

Coverage:South China Morning Post, July 16, 2025.

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Master’s Thesis In progress Independent Research

Does the Label Matter? Explaining When Chinese Development Finance and FDI Blur in Indonesian Elite Narratives

Master’s thesis NUS LKYSPP

Mixed-method study combining project-level data mapping, media framing analysis (2013–2024), and semi-structured elite interviews.

Advisers:Adam Y. Liu; Jonathan A. Chu.

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Peer-Reviewed Articles

Peer-reviewed work on political economy and governance.

Re-industrialising Indonesia: Lessons from China, Capital Intensity, and Labour-Market Realities

The Indonesian Quarterly by CSIS Indonesia 2025

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Shaping Governance Narratives through Divergent Migrant Labour Statistics within ASEAN: Evidence from Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand

Perantau: Journal of Migration, Borders, and Belonging 2025

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The Shift from Paradiplomacy to Protodiplomacy: A Comparative Study of Catalonia and Kurdistan

Journal of Paradiplomacy and City Networks 2024

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Presentations

Recent and upcoming conference presentations.

Shrinking Space for WTO Dispute Settlement: Geopolitics, Forum Shopping, and Lessons for Developing Economies

Presented

Conference on Innovation and Integration for Development (VIID) Asia Competitiveness Institute & Vietnam’s Foreign Trade University Singapore 12 December 2025

Trade Pressure, Green Regulation, and the Politics of Legitimacy: Evidence from Foreign-Financed Development in Indonesia

Accepted for June 2026

5th Annual Green Trade Lab Workshop University of Basel Switzerland June 2026

Work in Progress

Current manuscripts and ongoing projects.

City Solar Mandates and Paradiplomacy: A Difference-in-Differences Analysis of Five ASEAN Capitals

Conditionally accepted

Journal of Paradiplomacy and City Networks

Commercial diplomacy in times of crisis: Lessons from Indonesia’s coffee exports to Egypt

Submitted

Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences

Earlier Writing 11 items

Book chapter and unpublished materials

Concealing Data During the Pandemic: A Human Security Threat in Indonesia

Mahidol University 2021

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Conference proceedings

Transforming Indonesia’s Informal Sector: The Role of Industrialization in Manufacturing Industry

Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Conference Proceeding 2023

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Strengthening Social Protection Network in Indonesia: A Comprehensive Analysis of Coverage, Targeting, and Funding towards an Inclusive Welfare State

Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Conference Proceeding 2023

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COVID-19 in Indonesia: Critics and Proposal

Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Conference Proceeding 2022

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Russia Protest Against U.S. Plans to Place Military Equipment in Eastern Europe Countries in 2015

Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Conference Proceeding 2021

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Undergraduate thesis

Indonesia’s Government’s Role to Secure Vaccine Distribution in the Time of COVID-19 by Using Digital Diplomacy

Undergraduate Thesis 2022

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Public writing

Green Capitalism: The Manipulative Way to a Climate Death

Citrakara Mandala October 2020

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Antikritik di Masa Pandemi: Negara dalam Krisis Legitimasi

Kumparan June 2020

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Hampers untuk Presiden: Berulangnya Pembunuhan Keadilan

Kumparan June 2020

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Politik Tata Ruang dalam Gemuruh Pandemi

Kumparan June 2020

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Podcast

Politik Lingkungan Global

IPIREL Podcast December 2020

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