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Joe Biden s solar ambitions collide with China labor complaints
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Last Updated: May 24, 2021, 09:58 AM IST
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Synopsis
A big hurdle is polysilicon, used to make photovoltaic cells for solar panels. The global industry gets 45% of its supply from Xinjiang, the northwestern region where the ruling Communist Party is accused of mass incarceration of minorities and other abuses. Other parts of China supply 35%. Only 20% comes from U.S. and other producers.
AP
The Biden administration s solar power ambitions are colliding with complaints the global industry depends on Chinese raw materials that might be produced by forced labor. A big hurdle is polysilicon, used to make photovoltaic cells for solar panels. The global industry gets 45% of its supply from Xinjiang, the northwestern region where the ruling Communist Party is accused of mass incarceration of minorities and other abuses. Other parts of China supply 35%. Only 20% comes from U.S. and other producers.
Winnipeg Free Press By: Joe Mcdonald, The Associated Press Posted:
Last Modified: 12:28 AM CDT Monday, May. 24, 2021 Save to Read Later
BEIJING (AP) The Biden administration’s solar power ambitions are colliding with complaints the global industry depends on Chinese raw materials that might be produced by forced labor.
FILE - In this Jan. 5, 2021, file photo, an employee works at a solar panel and solar equipment factory in Jiujiang in central China s Jiangxi Province. The Biden administration’s solar power ambitions are colliding with complaints the global industry depends on Chinese raw materials that might be produced by forced labor. (Chinatopix via AP, File)
The possibility of forced labor “is a problem,” Kerry told U.S. legislators last week. He cited “solar panels that we believe in some cases are being produced by forced labor.”
Western governments have imposed travel and financial restrictions on Chinese officials blamed for abuses. The U.S. government has banned imports of cotton and tomatoes from Xinjiang, citing concerns over forced labor.
The administration was assessing whether to extend that ban to solar panels and raw materials from Xinjiang, Kerry said. He said he didn t know the status of that review.
At issue is the government s “labor transfer” program, which places workers in Xinjiang with companies.
Workers install solar panels at a photovoltaic power station in Hami in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Monday Aug. 22, 2011. (Chinatopix via AP)
BEIJING (AP) The Biden administration’s solar power ambitions are colliding with complaints the global industry depends on Chinese raw materials that might be produced by forced labor.
A big hurdle is polysilicon, used to make photovoltaic cells for solar panels. The global industry gets 45% of its supply from Xinjiang, the northwestern region where the ruling Communist Party is accused of mass incarceration of minorities and other abuses. Other parts of China supply 35%. Only 20% comes from U.S. and other producers.