US development agency nominee pledges to review projects using Chinese solar panels

Eighteen solar projects currently source solar panels from China, according to a leading Republican senator, who was briefed on the matter

‘Taxpayer money should never be used to support forced labour,’ Joe Biden’s nominee says

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US President Joe Biden’s nominee for CEO of US International Development Finance Corporation, Scott Nathan, appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.

Published: 4:37am, 2 Dec 2021Updated: 5:36am, 2 Dec 2021

US President Joe Biden’s pick to lead Washington’s international development finance agency said on Wednesday that, if confirmed, he would examine the body’s funding of overseas projects using Chinese-sourced solar panels, amid concern over allegations of forced labour in China’s far-west.

Scott Nathan, a former Barack Obama administration official, made the commitment during an appearance before the Senate foreign relations committee as it weighed his nomination to lead the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Eighteen of the 21 solar projects currently funded by the DFC source solar panels from China, according to the committee’s lead Republican, Senator James Risch of Idaho, who was briefed on the matter by DFC leadership.

Idaho Senator James Risch, speaking after a Senate Republican Policy luncheon on May 18 in Washington. Photo: AFP

Asked by Risch whether he would follow up on an October letter to the DFC in which the senator called for the agency to shun Chinese-manufactured solar panels, Nathan responded: “Absolutely. Taxpayer money should never be used to support forced labour.”

The US administration, along with other governments and rights groups, has accused Beijing of subjecting Uygurs and other ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to mass internment and forced labour - charges the Chinese government denies.

While concerns initially focused on the textiles and agricultural sectors, in June the Biden administration extended import and export bans to a number of Chinese manufacturers of polysilicon, a key component in the production of solar panels.

Beyond questions around forced labour, China loomed large over much of Nathan’s exchanges with senators on Wednesday, as members of the committee highlighted China’s huge investment in overseas infrastructure projects and the potential role that the DFC could play in offering an alternative.

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