I think this malfeasance started in earnest back in the Clinton administration:
The rare earths dependency on China stems in part from the fact that extracting rare earth minerals is an extremely polluting process that China has been willing to undertake, while most other countries have not, including the US, which ironically prides itself on having extremely strict environmental regulations in place.
The US, according to Reuters, has only one rare earths mine and no capability to process rare earth minerals. If China were to stop exporting them to the US, the country would fast run out of the basic building blocks required to produce the military hardware that the US needs, not to mention all the other items where rare earth minerals are needed.
And the article supplies a little extra perspective on China’s Belt And Road initiative.
Read it and weep. (Or go to the range.)
I saw a very good observation about the difference between China and the West on Quora. Basically it said that the Chinese only care about the result whereas the West cares about the process. That encompasses pollution, human rights, worker safety, and much more.
Unfortunately I forgot to bookmark it so it’s lost in the ether.
You know it takes a special kind of stupid (and arrogancy) for US gov’t employees (politicians and their supporters) to give power to supposed enemies of the country and then turn around and insult and denigrate said enemies.
It is becoming more clear with each passing day that the vilest American enemies do NOT reside outside the US.
The PRC has also done a great (for them) job of buying or coercing mineral rights or raw materials in Africa , Russia and the old Soviet states.
It actually started under Nixon with his worst crime, creation of the EPA.
I have had multiple discussions with green idiots about this kind of thing. Legitimately people who should know better.
You cant grow/make something without creating some level of unpleasantness. So we aren’t eliminating pollution, we are just hiring someone else to do the polluting for us. As long as we don’t see a smokestack, it must be OK.
We’re going to pay badly for this green bullshit someday.
We already are.
Not near as bad as its going to get.
That’s the idea behind getting everyone into electric cars. That there is no way there can be enough generating capacity unless we all revert to a 1949 level of electric use is an unspoken benefit to the the elected Lords and masters.
In the words of the late lamented P.J. O’Rourke. God makes shortages, man causes famines.
we need to restart a lot of industries in the US that were moved to the communist chinese. First off, everything needed by the military should be purchased from domestic suppliers. The only exceptions should be special needs by the CIA and military if they need equipment from foreign countries to help disavow clandestine operations.
We need that lead recycling plan reopened that Obama closed. Or it was a lead smelting plant. When push comes to shove, lead bullets are just fine and should be readily available for most shooting sports, self defense, military use etc.
Chip manufacturing, definitely bring it back to the US. Declare all this stuff as vital to national security and make it exempt from most EPA regulations.
JQ