Does China hold the lifeblood of our life here in America? Well, if you agree with the statement that technology is integral to life as we know it here in the Western world, then the answer is yes. Our recent speaker touched on several of the unusual or intangible resources of power that several countries around the world hold. For China, she stated their stock of rare earth elements gives them enormous power in this technical world. So as of now, they do indeed hold the key to crucial parts of our economy; unfortunately for us, they are aware of this might and are not afraid to use it.
This interesting video depicts the extent to which our society. (Sorry, I could not embed it.)
A recent article in Daily Tech illustrated just how striking this reliance is. Although China only contains about 30% of the world’s reserves in these precious minerals, they have maneuvered themselves to controlling 97% of the market. Additionally alarming is the hold China’s largest exporter has announced on shipments of these elements to such countries as the U.S., Japan, and Europe for one month in “an attempt to artificially inflate prices” and give them the foothold they need to try and reign in the profits the U.S. and Japan primarily gain from using these elements for the local production of magnets.
Clearly China is using this unconventional source of power to the best of their ability. Although I understood the idea of what our presenter was stating, looking deeper into the extent of this might really astounded me. When coupled with the enormous trade surplus China is currently sitting on despite deficits in much of the Western world, this additional source of power and non-monetary wealth should certainly give policy makers considerable fear.
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