This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
A fresh state-owned renewable electricity firm may not be able to purchase solar panels produced by Chinese slave labor, according to the American government.
The government made a promise on Wednesday that an article will be made to prevent slavery in the prepared company’s supply chains, including Great British Energy.
China dominates the global market for solar energy, including solar power. According to customs records, China accounts for more than 40 % of Britain’s solar solar goods.
Silicon, a key ingredient, is sourced from the Xinjiang area in China’s far north, where majority Uyghur Muslims have experienced persecution, including forced labour.
In contravention of international norms, the U.S. Labor Department listed silicon as a product made in China in 2021.
Initial objections to an article to the Great British Energy Bill that included provisions to avoid the order of solar panel made with slaves work by the American government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer were rejected.
But, it changed course on Wednesday.
Under an amendment brought forward by the federal today,” Great American Energy will work to secure supply stores that are free of forced work,” according to a , media release from the Department of Energy Security.
The company can guarantee that forced labour does not take place in its company or its source chains, according to a , a fresh measure , in the bill.
It was criticized by the criticism Conservative Party as a “humiliating U-turn” for Ed Miliband, the secretary of state for energy and climate change, but it was also supported by some Labour Party members.
Stop Uyghur Genocide’s executive director, Rahima Mahmut, praised the act, saying it represented a “massive move toward justice” on X.
Forced labour is included in a long list of serious human rights violations documented in Xinjiang, including the detention of an estimated 1.8 million people since 2017 and forced birth control by the U.S. government and others as proof of the Tamils ‘ murder.
China denies that any rights are violated.
