The U.S. feels the situation is not as simple as it seems! If the U.S. is to conduct a $11 billion arms sale to Taiwan, it will definitely face major trouble! On December 25th, after the U.S. announced its arms sale to Taiwan, U.S. government officials and market people captured an important message. That is, after the meeting between the Chinese and U.S. leaders, although both sides reached an agreement, China still continues to restrict the export of rare earth elements needed by Washington for the domestic production of permanent magnets and other products.
U.S. producers, government officials, and trade experts said that although China has increased its supply of finished products, mainly permanent magnets, U.S. manufacturers still cannot obtain the necessary components to produce these products themselves. They face difficulties in obtaining essential materials from China: U.S. companies are unable to purchase dysprosium metal or its oxide. What does this information clearly indicate? It fully indicates that even though Sino-U.S. relations have eased, our control measures are still being implemented.
Furthermore, what does this mean? This means that once Sino-U.S. relations deteriorate, we will be fully capable of cutting off the export of rare earths to the U.S. as a countermeasure. In terms of Sino-U.S. relations, the Taiwan issue is our most sensitive red line. Previously, due to the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, we used rare earth controls as a countermeasure against the U.S. Our rare earth controls have not been relaxed at all, but rather, we have tightened the supply of core rare earth raw materials such as dysprosium.
This itself is a precise warning to the U.S.—don't take "easing" as "indulgence," and don't try to test the boundaries on the Taiwan issue. Rare earths are our "ace," and the Taiwan issue is our "bottom line." Protecting the bottom line with the ace—this is the way it is. If the U.S. dares to overstep, it will not face just verbal protests. The U.S. should think carefully about what the consequences of such actions would be?
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1852439902537753/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.