Essay by Eric Worrall
LONGi Green Energy Technology has appealed for the West not to abandon Chinese manufacturers. But in 2021 LONGi was accused of using slave labor sourced components.
World’s biggest solar company warns west not to cut out Chinese suppliers
Longi executive says costs would double, job opportunities would be lost and green targets missed
Edward White in Shanghai FEBRUARY 15 2024
The world’s biggest solar panel manufacturer has warned that Europe and the US risk slower decarbonisation of their economies if they restrict Chinese companies from their renewable energy supply chains.
China dominates solar manufacturing, accounting for more than 80 per cent of global production following decades of deep state support, rapid domestic demand growth and intense local competition.
But western political and industry leaders have called for greater diversity in supply amid a glut of Chinese imports, as well as expressing security fears about China-made components being used in critical infrastructure.
Dennis She, vice-president of Longi Green Energy Technology, which has around 20 per cent of the global market for photovoltaic modules, told the Financial Times that western countries would “at least slow down” their transitions away from fossil fuels if they were to cut back on Chinese solar supplies. He also warned that the cost of solar panels produced without Chinese involvement in countries like the US would be “double”.
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Read more: https://www.ft.com/content/ba27f8d3-df06-4e2a-96b7-a8bbc06632a2
In 2021, LONGi was accused of connections to Chinese slave labor.
Solar-panel supplier’s links to alleged abuses in China imperil US climate goal
Author Michael Copley
Theme EnergyTechnology, Media & Telecom…
LONGi, the U.S.’s top solar-panel supplier, is exposed to possible human rights violations through its supply chain. LONGi and its subsidiaries sent at least 21% of the shipping containers that carried solar panels to U.S. ports during the second quarter of 2021, according to research firm Panjiva. Including panels from another leading manufacturer that buys material from LONGi, the company could account for as much as 30% of recent shipments.
LONGi buys polysilicon, a key ingredient in most solar panels, from at least three producers that source their raw material from Hoshine Silicon Industry Co. Ltd., according to a recent report from the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University in the U.K.
Hoshine was hit with a U.S. import restriction in June after U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, said it found evidence that the company used forced labor at factories in China’s autonomous Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused of suppressing Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. LONGi has denied the allegations and the Chinese government previously has denied that it is committing human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
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LONGi strenuously denies using slave labor. But how can they be sure? How can any of us be sure? Even if LONGi management are completely sincere, slave labour is allegedly a practice promoted by Chinese authorities. If allegations of slave labor are true, there would be no pressure on upstream supply chain companies to tell the truth when asked, about which of their workers get to go home at night.
Even Western companies sometimes get caught out by tainted Chinese goods, despite strenuous due diligence. Germany’s Volkswagen had their vehicles impounded by US Customs last week, after US inspectors discovered the vehicles contained a component from a sanctioned source.
So my question stands – is the alleged climate crisis serious enough that we should take even a small risk of benefiting from slave labor? Or should we close the door to Chinese products, until China admits their wrongdoing, and convincingly renounces slavery? How else can we force China to stop this abomination?
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