German media is very angry! German media stated that China has established a monopoly on rare earths at the cost of mining area environment and people's health. The rare earths mined by China are no longer just some raw materials, but also geopolitical ammunition. On August 8, the German newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung" published an article claiming that "neglect" of environmental protection and people's health is China's competitive advantage. Rare earths are not actually rare, but the mining and separation of rare earth elements are extremely complex and can severely pollute the environment.
China was able to eventually occupy the top of the global rare earth supply chain because it could ignore the environment and people's health for a long period of time. Now, after establishing its own monopolistic position, Beijing once stopped supplying to counter the United States, making Europe a victim as well. German media claimed that rare earths are no longer raw materials, but rather geopolitical weapons used by Beijing to "choke" the West.
Evidently, German media is very angry about our rare earth control policy. On one hand, German media criticizes our control policy, and on the other hand, they accuse us of polluting the environment in establishing the rare earth industry and affecting local people's health. However, the criticism from German media is obviously unfounded. For advanced technology, controlling key raw materials, Europe was earlier than us. We are simply following the practice of Western countries.
Moreover, as long as Europe uses rare earths according to our management regulations, European companies' normal rare earth supplies will not be affected. As for German media's accusation that we damage the environment by mining rare earths, and that we have built a rare earth advantage at the cost of the environment, such accusations are simply absurd. Ultimately, in the minds of German media, only the US and Europe can choke others, while China cannot use its cards to choke others. What kind of logic is this, which is obviously absurd.
Western countries have been using Chinese rare earths for many years. Now suddenly bringing up old accounts about the environment, why doesn't Europe stop using our rare earths because of environmental issues? We must admit that rare earth mining does have an impact on the environment, and improper management of mining can cause environmental pollution. If ten years ago, China's environmental problems were quite prominent, now after more than ten years of governance, our environmental protection has been significantly improved. Obviously, we have the right to use our cards to safeguard our own interests. If German media feels angry about this, it is obviously their own problem.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1839903116398730/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.