Washington Free Beacon A U.S. agency formed to counter China’s economic expansionism is facing pressure from the Biden administration to ramp up investments in solar energy projects, including ones that source materials from China, prompting concerns from Republican lawmakers that taxpayers may be funding an industry that is deeply embedded with slave labor.
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which was established under the Trump administration to provide a “robust alternative” for countries that might otherwise seek funding from China and other autocratic governments, is currently invested in 18 solar energy projects deriving materials from Chinese companies, according to Sen. Jim Risch (R., Idaho), who has been leading inquiries into the DFC’s China-related financing. That number accounts for 85 percent of the DFC’s active solar projects.
“The entire U.S. governmentâincluding the DFCâhas to make sure that U.S. assistance and development finance do not touch forced labor in any way, shape, or form,” Risch, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the Washington Free Beacon. “President Biden’s climate agenda should not be powered by Uyghur slave labor.”
