Part 12/14:
The irony is stark: the more China tries to build dependency through control, the more fragile and diminished it becomes. Dependency isn’t power; trust and reliable supply chains are. As corruption persists underground, illegal smuggling continues unabated, further eroding Beijing’s attempts at control.
In this context, China’s rare earth move signals more than a strategic blunder—it reveals a leadership increasingly driven by panic and insecurity. The ultimate legacy of this policy may well be the unraveling of China’s global economic influence.