With sanctions approaching, Xinjiang solar energy industry launches a charm offensive

A supplier in Xinjiang, a leading global solar cell manufacturer, rejected allegations of forced labor because the United States is considering sanctions that threaten the dominance of China’s remote areas in the solar supply chain.

Daegu New Energy, one of Xinjiang’s largest polysilicon producers, has launched a public relations campaign to combat these allegations. Last week, the “Financial Times” participated in a media interview. The campaign is Beijing’s latest move to combat allegations of human rights violations and human rights violations by foreign countries. Genocide In the area.

In the past ten years, the Xinjiang government has been ensuring its core position in the global solar panel supply chain through subsidies, tax incentives and cheap electricity. Northwest China’s output accounts for about 45% of the world’s Polysilicon, Is a material extracted from quartz, used in most photovoltaic cells, photovoltaic cells are equipment that converts sunlight into electrical energy.

However, Xinjiang’s polysilicon manufacturers are under scrutiny by human rights groups and foreign governments, who claim that the industry has benefited from the controversial state-run worker transfer program, which they believe is equivalent to Forced labor.

During the factory tour, the factory was located in an industrial park surrounded by wetlands about 30 minutes’ drive north of Shihezi City. Daegu executives stated that there was no such thing as “forced labor” in the factory. The executives added that they intend to support this claim through an independent third-party review.

However, these efforts are unlikely to ease Overseas pressure, The analyst said. Even if a single producer such as a large producer is approved by an auditor, the region plays an important role in all stages of the integrated solar supply chain, which means that any company doing business in Xinjiang will try to avoid international scrutiny.

The Chinese Communist Party is accused Any internship There are more than 1 million Uighurs, Kazakhs, Uzbeks and others in the area are mainly Muslims. Many detainees have been transferred to work in factories, a practice that human rights groups allege constitute forced labor, because workers usually have no choice but to hold these positions.

A few days after the trip to Daegu, report The report issued by the Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University uses the company’s official documents and Chinese official media reports to show the many links between Xinjiang’s entire solar energy industry and labor plans in the most detailed details so far, including Daktronics suppliers and customers.

“[Module] The author of the report writes that to avoid manufacturers in Xinjiang producing goods that may be contaminated by forced labor, they must thoroughly review their supply chain, down to the raw material quartz, until it is determined whether it is forced labor.

Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives, told the Financial Times that more and more evidence should put more pressure on President Biden to take action.

McCall said: “One report after another provides evidence of slave labor in the solar panel supply chain.” John Kerry admitted that the solar panel supply chain was contaminated by Chinese slave labor. How much evidence is needed before the world and the Biden administration finally take action? “

Biden’s international climate negotiator, Kerry, said last week that the State Department is evaluating whether China’s solar industry It should be the “target of sanctions.” This is the first time that the Biden administration has increased the likelihood of such actions.

British Parliament Unanimous vote Last month, the Canadian and Dutch parliaments and the U.S. State Department announced China’s genocide of the Uighurs.

When asked about the report, John Smirnow, vice chairman of market strategy at the American Solar Energy Industry Association, stated that the report indicated that “all companies in the solar energy supply chain related to the allegations of forced labor are at too high a risk. “.

In Shihezi City, 150 kilometers west of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, Daegu City Chief Financial Officer Yang Ming told the Financial Times that he hoped this tour guide would help “eliminate this misunderstanding of forced labor.”

Yang said that Daqo hopes to “prove that this kind of thing has not happened in our company.”

When visiting the refinery, Daqo emphasized that the process of converting metal silicon powder into high-purity polysilicon is a highly technological and highly automated process.

Except for about 40 employees sitting in front of computer screens in the command center, only a few workers are visible on the ground of the huge chemical factory. In order to minimize the risk of pollution caused by contact with people in the later stages of the process, reporters are required to wear dangerous goods suits, hair nets and plastic shoe covers.

The company stated that it implements a non-discriminatory employment policy and employs more than 2,000 workers, none of whom are Uighurs.

Yang added that Daqo has obtained written assurances from its suppliers and customers that they did not use forced labor.

But the effort of big q is unlikely Persuade American buyers In China’s solar modules, Xinjiang’s broader supply chain has no forced labor.

Compared with other polysilicon producers in the region, Daqo is in a unique position, thanks to its listing in New York. Nathan Picarsic, the founder of Horizon Advisory, a US-based consulting firm, said: “A single facility’s sanitation bill is not a passing score for the entire supply chain.”

According to official Chinese media reports, one of Daktronics’ suppliers, Xinjiang Shuguang Silicon Company, the region’s largest solar-grade silicon producer, has received thousands of workers from its transfer plan, which is located 150 kilometers southeast of Urumqi. Near Turpan. Article cited in the Sheffield Hallam report.

Laura Murphy, a professor of human rights and contemporary slavery at Sheffield Hallam University and one of the authors of the report, said that Hochian’s factory is close to the detention facility and its participation in the state-run labor program is enough to cause people’s attention.

Transfer programs to fight poverty are inherently problematic because they “occur in an environment where people who are not involved in poverty alleviation are considered separatists and activists.” . .[and]She added.