China is seizing control of critical minerals, including rare earth minerals that go into the making of electric vehicles (EVs), their batteries, and a range of electronic products for civilian and military uses, according to analysts.
Chinese companies in recent months have stepped up efforts to procure the minerals from places such as Myanmar, Vietnam, Morocco and Congo, according to several reports.
China’s quest for a larger share of critical minerals is significant because it is expected to use them as retaliatory tools against the U.S. if Washington decides to dramatically increase tariffs on Chinese goods, as President-elect Donald Trump has said he would do, according to analysts who spoke to VOA.
“Rare earths are a powerful tool China will use to retaliate against the Trump administration if the tariff war escalates,” Zhiqun Zhu, a political scientist at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, told VOA in an emailed interview.
