The United States on Wednesday restricted exports to five Chinese companies it said were involved in human rights abuses in China, including major manufacturers of polysilicon used in the solar panel industry.
Companies added to the Commerce Department list include “Hoshine Silicon Industry CO., LTD. ; Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co. ”, a unit of Daqo New Energy Corp; Xinjiang East Hope Metals Nonferrous Co., a Shanghai-based giant East Hope Group; Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material Co., and Corps Construction (XPCC).
At least some of the companies are leading manufacturers of ‘monocrystalline’ silicon and polysilicon used in the production of solar panels.
The companies were blacklisted for human rights violations and abuses of the Uighur population and other Muslim minorities, according to a government report. The Department of Commerce said firms accept or use forced labor.
The XPCC firm settled in Xinjiang in the 1950s to build farms and settlements. The company is strong in the energy and agriculture sectors of the region, and operates as a parallel state.
Foreign governments and human rights activists say the company has a major role to play in suppressing and monitoring the Uyghur population in the region, operating several internment camps.
The Treasury Department sanctioned XPCC last year for “serious abuses of ethnic minority rights.”
In March, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against two Chinese officials over serious human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region, where Washington said ethnic Muslims are victims of genocide. Among those blacklisted was Wang Junzheng, secretary of the Communist Party committee at the XPCC firm.