"China's Dangerous Monopoly on Metals: Controlling Rare Earth Supply gives Beijing an economic and military advantage over the United States." The Wall Street Journal of the United States published a commentary article on the 14th, stating that the United States has ignored China's "rule" and "monopoly" on rare earths and called on the United States to reach relevant provisions with China on rare earth trade and pricing. Regarding the above statements made by American media, Lin Boqiang, Dean of the China Energy Policy Research Institute at Xiamen University, refuted that China has a huge say in the rare earth field, but has not attempted to control rare earth resources and their pricing, and rare earths will not become a bargaining chip for China in political games.

Rare earth is a collective term for 17 chemical elements. In modern industry, rare earth is an important material in cutting-edge technology fields such as new energy, aerospace, information, and military industry. From mobile phones and computers to cars and missiles, it cannot be produced without elements such as cerium, europium, and neodymium in rare earth. According to data released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), as of 2018, China's rare earth resource reserves were 44 million tons, accounting for 36.7% of the world's total reserves and ranking first in the world. In 2018, China extracted 120000 tons of rare earths, accounting for 70.6% of the global rare earth production that year.

According to an article written by Michael Silva, CEO of American metal materials manufacturer American Element, and published in The Wall Street Journal, "China has always regarded rare earth monopoly as an economic and strategic sword.". The article argues that China attracts companies from the United States, Japan, and Europe to build factories in China through rare earths, in order to obtain cheaper rare earth resources. "China only needs to withdraw from the World Trade Organization to hinder the revival of the US manufacturing industry and have an overwhelming advantage in all future trade disputes."

The arguments such as "rare earths are an important weight in China US trade negotiations" and "China's use of rare earth monopoly to threaten other countries" are actually not new. The websites of the US Defense Monthly and Capitol Hill have previously published articles claiming that rare earths are still a "secret weapon" in China's hands. The Yomiuri Shimbun in Japan also claimed that about 10 years ago, Japan was also affected by a decrease in Chinese rare earth exports and a sharp rise in market prices.

"China is the world's largest exporter of rare earths and has a significant say in the rare earth market, which is true," Lin Boqiang told Global Times on the 15th. However, China has not controlled rare earth resources, as can be seen from the current international market prices of rare earths. Lin Boqiang stated that in recent years, international rare earths have actually been in a state of oversupply, and market prices have also been at a low level. This is influenced by some rare earth theft and smuggling activities, but it also reflects that China has not relied on its voice to increase rare earth prices. Lin Boqiang stated that the environmental costs of rare earth mining are high, and the United States has stopped mining its own rare earths and opted to import Chinese rare earths at lower prices. "Due to resource conservation and environmental protection requirements, China has been strengthening its supervision of rare earth mining," Lin Boqiang said. This may lead to an increase in rare earth prices, but it is not a "political game consideration.". (Reporter Zhao Juehui)