Part 2/14:
Yet beneath this veneer of strategic containment lies a stark reality: desperation. China, which controls nearly 80% of the world’s rare earth processing capacity, is now imposing export bans on five key rare earth elements and the technologies used to process them. While they frame this as a move to safeguard national interests, critics argue it’s an act of economic self-destruction—a high-stakes gamble with disastrous potential.