1y ago

China bans export of rare earths processing tech over national security

www.channelnewsasia.com China bans export of rare earths processing tech over national security

BEIJING :China, the world's top processor of rare earths, banned the export of technology to extract and separate the critical materials on Thursday, the country's latest step to protect its dominance over several strategic metals.Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn p...

109 comments

Hey! You aren't allowed to do that! Only America is allowed to ban exports because of national security.
- Kinda sad how much more we need China than they need us
  
  We all need each other tbh
  
  Yeah stop using them to manufacture goods sold in the West, see how well they fare...

I wonder when these poor resources will be liberated. The regions in China which have these resources must be freedomized.

West will just have to use their superior innovation skills I guess. 😂
- Australia has huge reserves of rare earths.
  Australia also has huge reserves of cobalt too, but it's cheaper to fuck up the DRC with violence and pollution, force kids to mine it and then write articles hand wringing about the ~ moral implications of modernity ~ without mentioning there are viable alternatives.
  
  From what I've read, the real issue with with the actual refining tech which China effectively has a monopoly on.

Isn't that their long national tradition? Like with paper technology, silk technology or porcelain technology?
- Gunpower too

"This announcement just formalises what everyone knew to be the case," Karayannopoulos said.
bro's name is longer than a Tamil's

No better way to boost diversion, and probably a net win for the planet considering how dirty and environmentally harmful the rare earth supply chain is today.
- 2nd best thing, since TSMC cut off ties with the PRC, considering they incentivized China to build their own shit...
  
  Yup, though you are comparing 19th century tech to cutting edge tech: the PRC isn't going to crack EUV lithography on its own any time soon
- If it were a ban on the rare earth minerals themselves, yes, but a ban on the extraction technologies just secures dependence on Chinese sources.
  The reason China is a major exporter of these minerals has less to do with their availability in China and more to do with their lax environmental regulations, which allow extraction via means that are prohibited in many other countries.
  So preventing their extraction in countries where stricter environmental standards are in place just means more environmental damage.