Expert Panel testimony It revealed to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday that Chinese companies mining “green” energy minerals, particularly in resource-rich countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), are creating a “devastating and unacceptable” situation for local people.
Experts have urged American officials to act to contain the malignant Chinese influence that destroys African children and the environment they live in, and emphasized that the minerals in question, such as cobalt, lithium, tantalum, and copper, are crucial to any technology economy.
The hearing, hosted by an African Subcommittee and chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), came as Zambian countries struggle to deal with virtual deaths on the Kahue River. Among the specific environmental threats mentioned at the hearing were threats to endangered species Okapi And the destruction of the entire community was contaminated to the point that no one could return safely, evacuated by businesses seeking to mine the land.
In addition to environmental disasters, the growing presence of exploitative Chinese companies such as DRC, Zambia and Zimbabwe has resulted in an increase in slavery for eight young children who are forced into mines without protective equipment and are forced into life-risking mines. Additionally, mineral wealth and corruption fuels the chaotic guerrilla warfare, particularly in the DRC. As of February, deaths in the ongoing DRC conflict are estimated to be high, with the UN documenting numerous cases of the use of rape as a weapon of war.
The issue of child slavery in the mines was markedly characterized during the hearing. Sasha Lezhnev, Sentry's senior policy advisor; It is listed It is the DRC alone, “there are an estimated 25,000-35,000 child miners who work in mines that send cobalt and copper to Chinese crude oil refiners.”
“We witnessed the horrors of eight-year-old children soldiers and child miners at a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Rezhnev said.
“We see cases of children and forced labor (average of 40,000 children) adjusting cobalt for Chinese buyers without proper protective equipment and payment.” I said Subcommittee. “Some of these children are under the age of 10 and they are exposed to toxic substances. According to an international amnesty investigation, it causes serious health and environmental issues.”
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Nguramo described the situation for those children and the lives of local people in areas affected by the Chinese mines in general, as “catastrophic and unacceptable.”
“In the DRC, the ongoing civil unrest and endless humanitarian crisis is largely due to China's ruthless and irresponsible grip on the country's natural resources,” Nguramo testified. “China, which manages almost 90% of the Congolese mining sector, has failed to use economic and financial power to defend and promote the rule of law, freedom and quality governance. But instead, China has mastered a strategy to harness the country of chaos.
Experts testified that China has spent more than $10 billion in Africa's mines and has benefited most so far in Zambia, the DRC and Zimbabwe, but the Communist Party has significantly expanded its impact elsewhere on the continent. Thierry Dongara, the responsible African founder of due diligence firms, noted that widespread corruption in local governments would enable this colonialism, pointing to examples of Niger, showing that if the African government chooses, Chinese companies could quickly expel violating Chinese companies. Currently, under a military coup system called the “National Council for Hometown Protection,” it reportedly ousted Chinese oil executives from the country in mid-March and closed Chinese-owned hotels that allegedly engaged in “discriminatory practices.”
“Recent cases of Niger expelling Chinese management shows that Chinese actors are often the first to lose when African countries are serious about moral sovereignty in the extractive industry,” Dongara said. observation.
Dongara points out that the local population is well aware of the evil that illegal and slave-led mining brings to their land, recalling that the pastor who married him to his wife performed a “sudden prayer of sanctification” to cleanse the wedding ring of evil energy. He recommended close cooperation with locals in affected countries to track down and close theft, slavery and other abuses.
“We've been monitoring attendance levels at schools, and that data is very valuable because we know that if school attendance starts to drop, we have to find out where these kids are going,” he said of his company.
“Local school principals, local fishermen's coalition, and mothers of children” could become critical allies, he suggested.
Rep. Smith, who chaired the hearing, pointed to China's control of mining there, but placed America at a disadvantage in view of the importance of the minerals in question in technology, in addition to promoting unspeakable human rights and environmental atrocities.
“The dependence on China on these important minerals is a clear vulnerability,” he emphasized in his opening remarks.
“The China national mining company, the biggest beneficiary of the system, is silent and refuses to confront the undeniable reality, from cobalt to cars. The entire supply chain is built on violence, exploitation and corruption,” he continued. “This has to change. The time for change is now.”
Rep. Smith recently Reintroduced The Cobalt Supply Chain Act is “a bill that in its own words ensures that products made using or containing sophisticated cobalt in the Republic of China will not enter the US market by presuming that cobalt is being extracted or processed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo using children and forced labor. Senator Smith first introduced a version of the bill in 2023.
