US considering sanctions on China solar over forced labour in Xinjiang, says John Kerry ANI | Updated: May 14, 2021 15:58 IST
Washington [US], May 14 (ANI): The Biden administration is considering sanctions over China s use of forced labour in the production of solar panels, said United States Special Envoy on Climate, John Kerry.
During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, lawmaker Michael McCaul asked Kerry about ensuring that the US climate strategy wouldn t involve solar panels produced from forced labour.
Kerry acknowledged that importing solar panel from Xinjiang is a problem due to forced labour by Uyghurs in the region, Fox News reported. When you look at the supply chain when you look at China, they dominate the critical mineral supply and solar supply chains all coming out of Xinjiang Province, McCaul said.
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Source: AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Testifying in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday morning, former Secretary of State and Biden Climate Czar John Kerry was pressed on the Chinese Communist Party s use of slave labor to make and sell solar panels to the rest of the world. Kerry said the abuse and genocide of the Uyghurs, who are forced to build the panels, is a problem, but said climate change must be addressed through clean sources of energy. How can you assure us, this quest that we re on [clean energy] that slave labor coming out of China where genocide is taking place as we speak, are never a part of the climate solution in the United States? Ranking Member Michael McCaul (R-TX) asked.
Climate envoy John Kerry / Getty Images Adam Kredo • May 12, 2021 4:34 pm
Biden administration climate envoy John Kerry admitted before Congress on Wednesday that slave labor plagues the globe s green energy supply chain, potentially complicating the administration s efforts to source materials from top human rights abusers like China.
During testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Kerry was pressed on his recent comments suggesting that China s ongoing genocide against the ethnic Uyghur minority should not get in the way of a climate deal. Some 80 percent of the world s solar panels are produced in China, and the United States has determined that at least a portion are made by Uyghur slave laborers in the country s Xinjiang province. Asked about the issue, Kerry was forced to publicly acknowledge that slave labor fuels the green energy market.
By Susan Jones | May 13, 2021 | 9:05am EDT
A coal-fired plant, one of many in China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)
(CNSNews.com) - China produces more emissions than all the rest of the OECD (developed) countries put together, President Biden s Senior Climate Adviser John Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday. They are currently funding coal, external coal-fired power. And we ve been working on, this is one of the things we really engaged on. And we ve had some very heated discussions about this. Because obviously, it s not sustainable.
“There s no way the United States and the rest of the world can get to our goal if China doesn t join in and become part of it s not just China. There are other countries.We need to see greater reductions in India, Kerry said.