Every country wants green tech, electric cars, and cheap gadgets. But nearly all of this depends on minerals like lithium, nickel, copper. And China controls most of it. They buy mines everywhere, use government money to outbid others, and even let their companies lose money if it means locking up supplies for the future. They even run the factories that turn raw minerals into finished products
Fact: China processes 90%+ of the worlds rare earths (69% in mining production). For cobalt, lithium, copper, it is frequently more than half
Now Western countries (US, Europe, Australia, etc.) are worried. They talk about “friendship” and “safe supply chains”, but what are they really doing? Mostly, they throw money at big companies or make new trade groups, but still depend on China’s factories and technology
At the same time, local people in Africa, Asia, and South America are tired of outsiders (East or West) controlling their resources. Sometimes they just take over mines and switch partners
The world is rushing for more minerals, but we might just repeat old mistakes: dependency, pollution, debt, broken promises. Only this time, it’s not just oil, but everything from phone batteries to wind turbines
we’re not solving the problem, just changing the resource. Lithium, cobalt, copper -now the new oil. China controls most of it, while others still depend on its factories and tech.Fact: China processes 90%+ of the worlds rare earths (69% in mining production). For cobalt, lithium, copper, it is frequently more than half
Now Western countries (US, Europe, Australia, etc.) are worried. They talk about “friendship” and “safe supply chains”, but what are they really doing? Mostly, they throw money at big companies or make new trade groups, but still depend on China’s factories and technology
At the same time, local people in Africa, Asia, and South America are tired of outsiders (East or West) controlling their resources. Sometimes they just take over mines and switch partners
The world is rushing for more minerals, but we might just repeat old mistakes: dependency, pollution, debt, broken promises. Only this time, it’s not just oil, but everything from phone batteries to wind turbines
The West talks about (secure supply,)but acts too slowly. For example Dubai showed you can gain influence through infrastructure and strategy, not just raw materials.
Unless countries invest in processing, tech, and local partnerships - not just mining - they’ll stay stuck in the same cycle of dependence and broken promises.