The Chinese New Year begins on 14 February, ending the Year
of the Ox and ushering in the Year of the Tiger. It seems to
me that the tiger is already well-ensconced – witness China’s
recent aggressive stances on internet censorship, the US arms
deal with Taiwan and climate change. There is a growing air
of supreme confidence, almost audacity, about China’s
attitude to the rest of the world.
Where does this come from?
China is the largest foreign owner of US debt, it has a huge
currency reserve and is now passing Japan as the world’s
biggest economy. Behind all this is a vast country with a
huge population of obedient patriots who are used to
hard-work, low pay and Spartan living. Above all they are
ruled by a very well-informed, intelligent and ruthless
elite.
If China does something, watch out – they have thought it
through and failure is not envisaged.
Perhaps the most worrying recent example of this is how China
has been preparing for a forthcoming peak oil energy crisis.
Whilst much of the rest of the world has been asleep, China
has been doing the sums and getting ready to react.
A recent deal with the Australia to import large quantities
of Australian coal is just one of many strategic moves by
China to secure its economic future. Very likely the most
significant outcome of these strategies will be China’s
achievement of dominance in the production of rare earth
metals such as (and especially) dysprosium, neodymium, and
lanthanum.
China has most of the world’s rare earth metal reserves and
is already responsible for over 90% of the production of the
metals. With their cheap labour costs, high tolerance of
environmental impacts and extensive experience in mining and
processing, the Chinese are well-placed to monopolise the
rare earth metal industry.
In a thinly-disguised manoeuvre to increase its stranglehold
on the industry, China is now moving to restrict the export
of rare earth metals.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/6082464/World-faces-hi-tech-crunch-as-China-eyes-ban-o...
Why does this matter? The implications are huge, but many
people I know seem to have little understanding of the
massive and growing importance of these metals. Just about
every hi-tech product depends on them – computers, TVs,
energy-saving light bulbs, lasers, optical fibre
communications, and so on. The list of applications is
extensive.
However, possibly the most important in terms of currently
identified future needs are electric batteries and motors,
and wind turbines. If we are seeing these as escape routes
from dependence on oil, then we better start thinking how we
can join or thwart the burgeoning Chinese play for the
overall control of rare earth metal production and
supply.[Abridged]
