critical minerals ban by china as a tool

 Restricting access to strategic resources is a classic statecraft strategy that China seems to be perfecting

सामरिक संसाधनों तक पहुंच को प्रतिबंधित करना एक क्लासिक शासन कला रणनीति है जिसे चीन निपुणता से अपना रहा है।

On August 15 this year, China announced its decision to restrict the export of antimony

 1  a critical mineral used in strategic sectors such as defence, for military equipment such as 

• missiles, 
• infrared sensors, 
• flares, 
• ammunition, 
• nuclear weapons. 

2 reason 

China’s Commerce Ministry justified this move on the basis of “national security”, adding that the measure would take effect from September 15. 

The declaration, however, was part of a series of countermoves that began in August 2023.

Moves and countermoves

 critical minerals, China is not only a stakeholder but also a leader

It dominates every supply chain segment — upstream, midstream, and downstream, covering mining, extraction, refining and processing. 

It enjoys a near-monopoly status, 

• controlling 60% of rare earth production, 
• 60% of critical minerals production 
• and 80% of the processing worldwide. 

more countries dependence on critical minerals. 

Therefore, any decision China makes has profound national security implications globally. 

The European Union and countries such as India, Japan and the United States are strategically vulnerable due to their dependence on critical minerals.

China’s intimidating behaviour first gained international attention

in the aftermath of the incident in 2010 when a Chinese trawler collided with Japanese Coast Guard boats, after which it halted the exports of rare earth elements to Japan.

in mid-2023 ban on the exports of critical minerals to US  

 In 2023, following the decision by the Netherlands to restrict the supply of semiconductor equipment, under pressure from the U.S.,

 China announced curbs on the export of gallium and germanium, two critical minerals used in 

• solar cells
• computer chips.

 Similarly, again in 2023

after the U.S. announced export control on “advanced computing, semiconductors, and semiconductors manufacturing equipment”, 

China reciprocated by curbing the export of “high-purity, high-hardness and high-intensity synthetic graphite material and natural flake graphite and its products”, widely used in 

• electric vehicle (EV) batteries, 
• fuel cells, 
• and nuclear reactors. 

 what is the meaning of this for US  

Apart from these two steps, China has reminded the U.S. of its monopoly and monopsony as a 

• mineral power and buyer, 
• exhibiting the importance of its critical minerals in developing the U.S.’s high technology and green energy sectors.

 China has also restricted the export of rare earth processing technologies 

in making rare earth magnets used in EVs, in addition to technologies used to extract and separate critical minerals, hamstringing the U.S.-led attempt to build an alternative supply chain.

A hardening of foreign policy posture

क्या किसी और देश ने भी ऐसा किया है ? 

U.S. oil embargo against Japan in 1940.

 The difference in China’s case 

is that this initially started as an act to intimidate countries. However, with recent countermoves, critical minerals export controls have now become a part of China’s foreign policy objectives. 

चीन ऐसा क्यों कर रहा ? 

१ First, Beijing is reminding the West of its strategic dependency on China by demonstrating its status as a mineral power and exerting control over the supply chain. 

२ Second, 

 sabotage the West’s critical mineral supply chain, which will hinder the development of its high-tech sectors and undermine their efforts to decouple and de-risk. 

३ Those critical minerals utilised in dual-use applications

are major targets in particular as they are needed in the building of the Virginia class submarine and the F-35 fighter aircraft, which require several hundred pounds of rare earth elements. 

४  It signals that Chinese curbs via export control will only grow as ties with the West deteriorate. 

५ According to Chinese Natural Resource Minister Wang Guanghua, 

“China will push forward exploration, increase critical minerals capacity, and enhance mineral resources reserves over the next five years”

India’s vulnerability

Like its Quad partners

Australia, Japan and the U.S., India remains vulnerable due to its strategic dependence on China.

 New Delhi is heavily dependent 

on the imports of critical minerals such as 

1. lithium, 
2. nickel, 
3. cobalt and 
4. copper, which resulted in an import cost of around ₹34,000 crore in FY23.

this is a  wake-up call for India and the policymakers who have been slow in taking precautionary measures such as having partnerships with like-minded countries and investing in developing alternative supply chains.

source the hindu