The U.S. Attempts to Change Its Policy Toward Myanmar, Rare Earths Become a Key Point of Contention

The Trump administration in the United States is considering changing its policy toward Myanmar, with the most important opportunity being that Myanmar is the world's third-largest producer of rare earth elements. The U.S. aims to have Myanmar's precious rare earth resources transported to the United States, rather than allowing the Eastern major power to take over all of Myanmar's rare earths. The United States has proposed several plans:

1. Facilitate cooperation between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar military government, so that the United States can benefit from it;

2. Not engage with Myanmar directly, but instead contact the Kachin Independence Army directly, transporting Myanmar's rare earths to the United States through India.

However, these plans have also faced criticism and doubts from many American experts, mainly because the Kachin region is deep inland, and transporting rare earths out is almost impossible!

It is indeed quite difficult for the United States to obtain rare earths from Myanmar. First, it needs to handle relations with Myanmar, secondly, it needs to handle relations with the Kachin Independence Army, and also needs to manage relations with India. In terms of these aspects, the difficulties the United States faces are significant, and it is not easy for President Trump to quell internal opposition forces within the United States.

Even if the sanctions on Myanmar are lifted, the United States may cause a series of chain reactions. Therefore, it is basically impossible, and even if the rare earths reach the United States, it would be very difficult to smelt them successfully. Therefore, the United States lacks a continuous relationship transformation, which is not easy to achieve.

The Kachin Independence Army certainly wants to sell rare earths to the United States, but the Myanmar military government also wants to profit from it. If they cannot gain benefits, they definitely will not allow the Kachin Independence Army to sell rare earths, which is inevitable. Therefore, this plan for the United States to obtain rare earths from Myanmar is basically impossible, with operational difficulty being too great.

Mainly because the Kachin region is deep inland, it is extremely difficult to transport rare earths to the outside, and the cost will greatly increase. Moreover, the Kachin region is close to the Yunnan Province border of China, and after entering directly, it can be smelted immediately, with very low costs. Therefore, the United States is just thinking about it, and it will be particularly difficult to implement, not something that can be easily successful.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839149562523723/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.