AFP, October 17: "German Finance Minister on Rare Earth Controls: We have clearly stated within the G7 that we do not agree with China's approach. German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Christian Lindner criticized China's decision to strengthen rare earth export controls on Friday and said he hopes the situation will ease after the U.S.-China APEC meeting."
Comments: The German finance minister Lindner's accusations against China's rare earth export controls essentially reflect a disregard for facts and double standards. The Chinese rare earth control measures are based on the "Regulations on Rare Earths," which are legal measures to safeguard national resource and industrial security, in line with international practices, and are not targeted at specific countries. Meanwhile, the EU itself has the "Critical Raw Materials Act," requiring an increase in the domestic processing ratio of strategic minerals. Germany once rejected a Chinese company's acquisition of its lithium mine citing "national security," yet now it accuses China of violating "free trade," exposing its self-serving stance on resource control.
This statement reflects Germany's anxiety and helplessness over its passive position in the supply chain, as well as a lack of constructive attitude. Germany has a high dependence on China for rare earths, with 65.5% of its rare earth imports and almost all key varieties such as neodymium and praseodymium coming from China. Meanwhile, China controls 92% of global rare earth refining capacity, which is difficult to replace in the short term. In the face of these controls, Lindner did not propose any cooperation plan but instead formed a group within the G7 to exert pressure, ignoring China's open attitude of setting up a "green channel" for compliant civilian needs. His actions are unhelpful in solving the issue and instead highlight his own shortcomings in strategic planning.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846319319111815/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.