China slams US curbs on solar materials as economic attack

BEIJING (AP) — China has criticized U.S. curbs on imports of solar panel materials that might be made with forced labor as an attack on its development and said Beijing will protect Chinese companies, but gave no details of possible retaliation. Washington says it will block imports of polysilicon from Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., which might use forced labor as part of a Beijing campaign against ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region in the northwest. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson says Washington is using “human rights as a disguise” to “suppress the industrial development of Xinjiang.” The spokesperson says Beijing will “take all necessary measures” to protect its companies but gave no details.