http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/secure/2013/10_09/ba.asp ?****
** ** *Already a rare earth monopoly, China cuts supply, creates reserve *** Because China controls over 90 percent of the world's rare earth market, it can exert leverage on other rare-earth dependent nations to behave the way Beijing wants. **** Yet the Chinese government announced recently that it had ordered the hoarding of 10,000 metric tons of rare earth as its own rare earth strategic reserve. **** Rare earths are key minerals to make modern electronic devices. Japan, Europe and the United States are the primary countries that heavily depend on China's near monopoly of rare earth supply. **** China has used that position to bully and threaten Japan in particular by cutting down rare earth exports to Japan as punishment for Japan's challenge to China's claim over the Senkakus. **** But China's calculation backfired in recent years as countries, especially Japan, began to increase domestic production of rare earth or seek new suppliers. **** China has only 23 percent of the world's rare earth reserve. But excavating and producing rare earths are highly detrimental to the environment. Most industrialized nations are rich in rare earth reserves but are extremely cautious about producing them domestically. **** China, on the other hand, cares little about its environment when it comes to gaining leverage in international markets. **** Most of China's abundant rare earths are excavated and produced in the northern China plain and the Inner Mongolia region, which has seen the devastation of large chunks of precious cattle and horse grazing land. Clashes between local Mongolians and Chinese communist officials in charge of economic development are frequently reported. **** Japan has re-invested billions in new rare earth rich areas such as Vietnam to acquire rare earth materials for its robust electronic industry. **** As a result, international prices for China's rare earth began to crumble in recent months. **** Some experts believe that the current order for the Beijing government to stockpile the rare earth is an attempt by the government to jack up the prices for China's rare earth by artificially creating a demand. **** ** ** __._,_.___ __,_._,___ -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
