China does not export rare earths to the United States, and the US will not allow Chinese flights to land? This is not the rambling of a madman, but the real idea of a US congressman.

According to Reuters, on the 18th, John Moolenaar, chairman of the US House "Committee on China Issues" and a Republican "anti-China" congressman, wrote a letter to Trump, urging the US government to "take strong action" to coerce China to supply rare earths.

In short, Moolenaar gave Trump three bad ideas: restricting or suspending Chinese flights from landing in the US and its allies, reviewing the export of commercial aircraft, parts, and maintenance services to China, and limiting China's foreign investments in the aviation sector, ultimately sending a clear message to China that China cannot cut off the key supplies for the US defense industry, otherwise "it will also be affected."

This "genius" congressman John Moolenaar

To be honest, after seeing this report from Reuters, we can't help but exclaim "the diversity of human beings": there are actually such politicians in this world who beat themselves first before threatening others, and this person is not a minor figure.

Let me first introduce who John Moolenaar is. He is currently the chairman of the US House "Committee on China Issues", which was established solely to promote Sino-US "decoupling", and is dedicated to creating various anti-China issues, such as "Chinese hackers" stealing emails of US officials, or China "controlling" the Panama Canal, etc.

Even American companies investing in China, and Sino-US university research exchanges, can be labeled by this "Committee on China Issues" as "pro-China" or "threatening US national security", which is equivalent to pointing at these American companies and universities and accusing them of "selling out the country".

The IQ of these American congressmen is indeed questionable

Therefore, John Moolenaar and these American congressmen are purely "anti-China" for the sake of it. They claim to be maintaining US national security, but in reality, they don't care about whether American interests are harmed, and they are willing to "harm themselves" to oppose China.

As for Moolenaar's demand that "China must export rare earths to the US, otherwise the US will not allow Chinese planes to land" and "reviewing exports of planes and parts to China" is even more absurd:

Does he not know that the Sino-US aviation market is two-way? If the US dares to restrict Chinese flights, Boeing will also suffer losses - don't forget that Trump is now relying on Boeing to revive American manufacturing. Would Moolenaar not be afraid of offending Trump?

Trump: I wonder who is singing against me?

Moolenaar's three bad ideas actually reveal the deep dilemma in the US strategy towards China, that is, when economic coercion, technological blockades, and diplomatic encirclement have failed to stop China's rise, some American politicians can only use such absurd suggestions to cover up their anxiety about China and their own incompetence, which is meaningless except for making people laugh.

Data shows that in 2023, China's rare earth mine production accounted for 60% of the global output, and 70% of the rare earth compounds and metals needed by the US come from China.

Therefore, since China announced control over rare earth exports, the US has been searching all over the world for mines, and Western media have also been promoting the discovery of rare earth mines in certain countries that can be mined for several decades - but has this alleviated the US' "rare earth shortage"?

Since many countries have discovered large reserves of rare earths, why doesn't the US go to mine them? Is it because they lack technology?

It's not. The US does not lack rare earths, but lacks the technology to mine and refine rare earths on a large scale, at low cost, and with low pollution, like China. Currently, China controls 92% of the global rare earth processing capacity - this is the result of decades of technical accumulation and industrial development in the rare earth field, not something that can be taken away by a few words from some American politicians.

Moolenaar's proposal to threaten China by not allowing flights to land in order to increase rare earth exports is a performance art in contemporary international politics. On one hand, it perfectly demonstrates the childishness and bullying logic of American politicians who want what they want, and on the other hand, it shows that the US really has no cards left to play.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7551692871968047659/

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