Edit: thread title is meant to be 'not too relevant question'. Misspelled too.
Chinese tell me as you guys are hegemons or have monopoly in mining, producing rare earth metals., last i had read was that you people are supplying 90pc of rare earth metals consumed accross the globe,(correct me if wrong). So i wanted to know that with the kind of relations china has with usa and america basically being one of the biggest threats to chinas sovereignty, then comes japan, cant china use rare earth metals as weapon to arm twist these nations.
See mining these metals is no kids job, miners in this industry are likely to be exposed to hazardous fumes etc and incidence of cancer is also higher amongst rare earth metal miners which is also the reason many countries havent ventured into this industry.
Once china blocks these metals exports, all these countries will suffer a slowdown in gadgetry manufacturing including sophisticated, sensitive ones too , and naturally their defence industry will or could also get affected.
So my question is that with china enjoying this monopoly status, why america etc think they can easily mess with her and getaway with it without facing any serious repercussions?
i could be wrong on many levels of my question. Anyhow, so what do u think?
And of now i am familiar with WTO agreements and obligations on china regarding exports, but..when things go awry..?
Chinese tell me as you guys are hegemons or have monopoly in mining, producing rare earth metals., last i had read was that you people are supplying 90pc of rare earth metals consumed accross the globe,(correct me if wrong). So i wanted to know that with the kind of relations china has with usa and america basically being one of the biggest threats to chinas sovereignty, then comes japan, cant china use rare earth metals as weapon to arm twist these nations.
See mining these metals is no kids job, miners in this industry are likely to be exposed to hazardous fumes etc and incidence of cancer is also higher amongst rare earth metal miners which is also the reason many countries havent ventured into this industry.
Once china blocks these metals exports, all these countries will suffer a slowdown in gadgetry manufacturing including sophisticated, sensitive ones too , and naturally their defence industry will or could also get affected.
So my question is that with china enjoying this monopoly status, why america etc think they can easily mess with her and getaway with it without facing any serious repercussions?
i could be wrong on many levels of my question. Anyhow, so what do u think?
And of now i am familiar with WTO agreements and obligations on china regarding exports, but..when things go awry..?