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| Lop County Education Centre. Source: Xinjiang Justice Bureau |
China's Xinjiang region has evolved over the past two decades into a major production hub for many of the companies that supply the world with parts needed to build solar panels.
But new research suggests that much of that work could rely on the exploitation of the region's Uyghur population and other ethnic and religious minorities, potentially tainting a significant portion of the global supply chain for a renewable energy source critical to combating the climate crisis.
The report published Friday — titled "In Broad Daylight: Uyghur Forced Labor and Global Solar Supply Chains" — presents evidence of a troubling reality: that components for clean energy may be created with dirty coal and forced labor. An advance copy of the report was shared exclusively with CNN Business. (From here)
The full report itself is truly heartbreaking. It's extensively researched and referenced so no one can say "there's no evidence" or " they are just vocational training centres". No, they are not. They are forced Labour camps. And the world is going to have to face this when it comes to sourcing solar panels, most of which have parts that come from Xinjiang and the slave labour they use. By "they" I mean the Han Chinese. Who treats Uygurs as a lower order. Lazy, shiftless, stupid.
I first met this in Shanghai in 1990 when I happened upon a group of Uygurs having a nice old piss-up. They invited me to join them, in their best Mandarin, which was poor. A few beers later one of them leaned over and said to me, "you know, you're more Chinese than we are. At least you can speak proper Mandarin!"
Remember, these folks are a an integral part of the glorious Chinese motherland.
ADDED: China again breaches international commitments it made to stick to the rules-based order:It is clear from the evidence presented above that the CCP’s labour transfer programme in the Uyghur Region is used to punish people with oppositional ideological views, to create a regime of economic development built on compulsory labour, and to discipline the masses whom they deem to be inherently deficient because of their race and religion. While the PRC government justifies these programmes as “poverty alleviation” strategies, the spectre of internment camps looms, creating a situation in which no Uyghur or other minoritised citizen could refuse participation in these government-run programmes without risk of being sent to the camps.
I first met this in Shanghai in 1990 when I happened upon a group of Uygurs having a nice old piss-up. They invited me to join them, in their best Mandarin, which was poor. A few beers later one of them leaned over and said to me, "you know, you're more Chinese than we are. At least you can speak proper Mandarin!"
Remember, these folks are a an integral part of the glorious Chinese motherland.
ADDED: China again breaches international commitments it made to stick to the rules-based order:It is clear from the evidence presented above that the CCP’s labour transfer programme in the Uyghur Region is used to punish people with oppositional ideological views, to create a regime of economic development built on compulsory labour, and to discipline the masses whom they deem to be inherently deficient because of their race and religion. While the PRC government justifies these programmes as “poverty alleviation” strategies, the spectre of internment camps looms, creating a situation in which no Uyghur or other minoritised citizen could refuse participation in these government-run programmes without risk of being sent to the camps.
This clearly contravenes the ILO convention, to which the PRC is subject because all member states must comply with the four fundamental principles of the ILO, which includes the abolition of slavery.38 Because the Chinese government has invested vast resources in this unprecedented system of compulsory labour and because that system so clearly contravenes the conventions that govern labour rights internationally, it is critical that we examine the particular goods that are being produced as a result.
This paper focuses on just one of those industries – the solar energy industry – and reveals the ways forced labour in the Uyghur Region can pervade an entire supply chain and reach deep into international markets.
ADDED: arguments over academic report that tries to look at this issue with some nuance: "Anonymous Xinjiang report attracts angst, agreement in questioning 'genocide' definition". [Internet Archive]
