- By Global China Unit
- bbc news
image source, Getty Images
Earlier this year, Ai Ching was woken up in the middle of the night by angry screams outside her dormitory in northern Argentina.
She looked out the window and saw Argentine workers surrounding the compound, blocking the entrance with burning tires.
Ai, who works for a Chinese company that extracts lithium for use in batteries from the salt flats of the Andes Mountains, said, “I saw the sky lit up with fire and got scared. There was a riot.''
The protests, sparked by the firing of scores of Argentinian employees, come as China, which already dominates the processing of minerals essential to a green economy, expands its reach and conflicts between Chinese companies and host communities. It's just one example of ever-increasing friction. their involvement in mining;
It was only a decade ago that Chinese companies bought the country's first interests in mining projects in the “lithium triangle'' of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, which contains most of the world's lithium reserves.
Since then, China has continued to invest in local mining operations, according to mining publications, companies, governments, and media reports. Based on their shareholdings, Chinese companies control an estimated 33% of lithium in projects currently producing it or under construction, according to BBC calculations.
image source, Getty Images
But as Chinese companies expanded, they began to face allegations of abuse similar to those often brought against other international mining giants.
For Ai Qing, the tire-burning protests were a terrible wake-up call. She expected her quiet life in Argentina, but her knowledge of Spanish led her to become involved in mediating conflicts.
“It wasn't easy,” she says.
“Besides the language, there are also indications that management thinks the workers are simply lazy and too reliant on unions, and that local residents think the Chinese are only here to exploit them. We need to tone down a lot of things, including things like that.”
The BBC Global China Unit has identified at least 62 mining projects around the world funded by Chinese companies that contain lithium or three other minerals key to green technology: cobalt, nickel, manganese).
All of these are used to make lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars, and are now an industrial priority for China, along with solar panels. Some projects are among the world's largest producers of these minerals.
China has long been a leader in lithium and cobalt refining, with global supply shares expected to reach 72% and 68%, respectively, in 2022, according to think tank Chatham House.
With its ability to refine these and other critical minerals, the country will produce more than half of the electric vehicles sold worldwide in 2023, have 60% of the world's wind turbine manufacturing capacity, and managed to reach a stage where at least 80% of the Each stage of the solar panel supply chain.
China's role in this field has made these items cheaper and more available around the world.
But China is not alone in its need to extract and process minerals for a green economy. The United Nations says that for the world to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, its use must increase sixfold by 2040.
Meanwhile, the US, UK and European Union are all developing strategies to reduce their dependence on supplies from China.
As Chinese companies expand their mining operations overseas, allegations of problems caused by these projects have steadily increased.
The NGO Business and Human Rights Resource Center says such problems are “not unique to Chinese mines,” but last year it has It released a report listing 102 complaints, ranging from violations of the rights of local residents. It causes ecological damage and unsafe working conditions for local communities.
These claims date back to 2021 and 2022. The BBC counted more than 40 further allegations made in 2023 and reported by NGOs and the media.
People from two countries on opposite sides of the world also shared their stories.
image source, BBC Byobe Marenga
On the outskirts of Lubumbashi in the far south of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Christophe Kabwita has been leading a campaign against the Ruasi cobalt mine owned by the Kanagawa Group since 2011.
He said two or three times a week, explosives are blown into the rock, killing people in an open-pit mine 500 meters from his home. When the explosion begins, a siren will sound, alerting everyone to stop work and evacuate.
“No matter what the temperature is, whether it's raining or strong winds, we have to leave our homes and go to shelters near the mines,” he says.
This applies to everyone, including the sick and women who have just given birth, because there is no other safe place, he added.
image source, BBC Byobe Marenga
In 2017, a teenage girl, Kati Cabazo, was reportedly killed by a flying stone while walking home from school, and other stones left holes in the walls and roof of local homes. It is also said that
Ruasi mine spokeswoman Elisa Karasa confirmed: “A young child was in the area. She was not supposed to be there and was affected by the flying stone.”
Since then, “we've improved our technology and now we can do rock-free detonations,” she said.
However, the BBC spoke to the company's processing manager, Patrick Tzisand, who gave a different picture. He said: “When you mine, you use explosives. Explosives can cause flying stones, and the community is too close to the mine, so those stones can fly into the community. There were several accidents,” he said.
Karasa also said that between 2006 and 2012, the company compensated more than 300 families to relocate farther from the mine.
On Indonesia's remote island of Ob, a mine jointly owned by Chinese company Reigen Resources and Technology and Indonesian mining giant Harita Group is rapidly engulfing the forest around the village of Kawasi.
Jatam, a local mine monitor, says villagers are under pressure to relocate and accept government compensation. Dozens of families are refusing to relocate, saying the properties on offer are below market value. As a result, some say they are being threatened with legal action for blocking projects of national strategic importance.
Jatam said there have been documented cases of the deforestation of native forests to make way for mines, the filling of rivers and oceans with sediment, and the contamination of once pristine marine environments.
Nur Hayati, a teacher who lives in Kawasi village, said, “The water in the river is now so polluted that it is undrinkable.The water, which is usually clear blue, turns red when it rains.''
Indonesian soldiers have been sent to the island to protect the mines, and there was a noticeable increase in military presence when the BBC visited recently. Jatam claims that soldiers are being used to intimidate and even assault those who speak out against the mine. Noor said her community feels the army is there “to protect the interests of the mines, not the welfare of our own people.”
A military spokesman in Jakarta called the threat “unprovable” and said the soldiers were there to “protect the mine” but not to “interact directly with the local population.” .
He claimed in a statement that the relocation of villagers to make way for the mine had been carried out “peacefully and smoothly” under police supervision.
Nour was among a group of villagers who traveled to Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, in June 2018 to protest against the impact of the mine. However, local government representative Samus Abubakar told the BBC that he had not received any complaints from residents about environmental damage.
He also shared an official report that concluded Harita Group was “in compliance with its environmental management and monitoring obligations.”
Harita itself told us it “strictly adheres to ethical business practices and local laws” and is “continually working to address and mitigate any negative impacts.”
It insists it has not caused widespread deforestation and said it monitors local drinking water sources and that independent testing has confirmed the water meets government water quality standards. He added that he has not committed any forced evictions or unfair land deals, and has never threatened anyone.
image source, Getty Images
A year ago, China's mining trade body known as CCCMC began establishing a grievance mechanism aimed at resolving complaints against Chinese-owned mining projects. Spokeswoman Lelia Lee said the companies themselves “lack the cultural and linguistic capacity” to interact with local communities and civil society groups.
However, the mechanism is not yet fully functional.
On the other hand, it seems certain that China's involvement in foreign mining projects will increase. Aditya Lolla, Asia program director at UK-based environmental think tank Ember, says this is not just a “geopolitical strategy” to dominate key markets, but also makes sense from a business perspective. He says there is.
“For Chinese companies, acquisitions are all about profits,” he says.
As a result, Chinese workers will continue to be sent to mining projects around the world, and for them these projects are primarily opportunities to earn high incomes.
People like Wang Gan, who has worked in a Chinese-owned cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo for 10 years. The 48-year-old lives in company housing, eats in the company cafeteria, works 10 hours a day, seven days a week, and takes four days off a month.
He accepts being separated from his family in Hubei province. Because he earns more than at home. He also enjoys the clear skies and tall forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He communicates with local miners in a mix of French, Swahili and English, but says, “We rarely chat, except about work-related matters.”
Even Ai Ching, who speaks her native language fluently, has little contact with Argentineans outside of work. She started dating her fellow Chinese workers, but they mostly hang out with people like herself. Being thousands of miles from home brings everyone closer together.
A highlight for her is visiting the salt flats high in the Andes, where lithium is mined and life is “cold.”
“Altitude sickness always bothers me. I can't sleep, I can't eat,” she says. “But I really enjoy going there because things are much simpler and there's no office politics.”
Ai Qing and Wang Gang are pseudonyms
Additional reporting by Emery Makumeno, Byobe Malenga and Lucien Kahozy
