Why The Chinese Monopoly On Rare Earth Elements Is So Incredibly Dangerous
Translation by Autumnson Blog
Most Americans have no idea why rare earth elements are important or why the Chinese monopoly on them is so dangerous. But now that China is enforcing strict new quotas on the export of these metals a lot more people are going to start learning about them. So just exactly what are they? Well, "rare earth elements" is a name that has been given to 17 metals from the middle of the Periodic Table with nearly unpronounceable names such as lanthanum, cerium, tantalum, neodymium and europium. These metals are used in an increasing number of high technology products. Everything from iPods to wind turbines to missile-guidance systems use these metals. Unfortunately, today China controls over 90 percent of the world supply of rare earth elements. This puts China in an incredibly powerful position.
大多數美國人都不知道為什麼稀土元素是重要，或者為什麼中國人壟斷它們是如此危險的。但現在，中國在嚴格執行這些金屬的新出口配額，更多的人會開始知道他們，所以究竟它們是什麼？嗯，“稀土元素”是一個名稱已被給予 17種來自中間週期表的金屬，有差不多不能發音的名稱如鑭、鈰、鉭、釹和銪。這些金屬被用於越來越多的高科技產品，來自 iPod的一切東西至風渦輪機至導彈制導系統都使用這些金屬。不幸的是，今天中國控制90%以上世界的稀土供應，這使中國處於一個令人難以置信的強大地位。
It was a huge mistake for the rest of the world to let China develop such a monopoly. These metals are absolutely essential in today's world.
它是一個巨大的錯誤給其餘世界去讓中國發展這種壟斷，這些金屬在今天的世界是絕對必要的。
Just consider a few of the products that use rare earth elements....
試想幾種使用稀土元素的產品....
*Hybrid car batteries
*混合動力汽車電池
*Flat screen televisions
*平面屏幕電視
*Cell phones
*手機
*iPods
*Radar systems
*雷達系統
*Missile-guidance systems
*導彈制導系統
*Satellites
*衛星
*Aircraft electronics
*飛機電子
*Smart bombs
*智能炸彈
*Electric car engines
*電動汽車發動機
Are you ready for a world without iPods or cell phones?
你準備好一個世界沒有 iPod或手機嗎？
Well, that is what we would potentially be facing without these rare earth elements.
嗯，那就是我們將可能面的的，在沒有這些稀土元素時。
Now China has announced that they will be significantly cutting back on the export of these metals.
However, there are no export quotas on rare earth metals contained in finished goods from China.
So do you know what that means?
It means even more things will now be made in China.
The rest of the world can start to develop their own supplies of rare earth elements, but that is going to take time and it is going to be very expensive.
Meanwhile, China is going to be developing an increasingly tighter grip over the manufacturing of high-tech products.
That is quite a bit of leverage to have over the rest of the world.
Not only that, but this Chinese monopoly on rare earth elements is a direct threat to U.S. national security.
Today, China is the leading supplier of components that are critical to the operation of U.S. defense systems.
Now how in the world did we allow that to happen?
We have seriously messed up.
China is one of our greatest strategic threats, and now we are dependent on them for high-tech military components.
China already has tremendous leverage over us because they own so much of our national debt, and now the ability to cut off our rare earth elements has given them even more of a strategic advantage.
So what are we going to do one day if they cut off the export of all rare earth elements and they cut off the export of all the high-tech components that our military needs?
What in the world are we going to do then?
In addition, putting Chinese components in so much of our equipment opens the door for all kinds of mischief.
Just recently, U.S. intelligence agencies informed Congress that allowing Chinese components in the cell phone towers for next generation wireless networks will make our communications extremely vulnerable to electronic spying by China.
But most Americans don't think that China is any kind of a threat at all.
Most Americans think that they are our dear friends.
The small percentage of Americans that actually are concerned about external threats are mostly fixated on Iran and on hunting down Islamic terrorists in caves in the Middle East.
But please, please, please do not take your eyes off of Russia and China.
Russia and China are increasingly developing closer economic and military ties. Their military planners openly talk about how a future war with the United States would go. In fact, many in the top brass in both those nations believe that such a war is inevitable.
The major thing preventing the Russians and Chinese from attacking the U.S. is our strategic nuclear arsenal. But now Barack Obama wants to cut it down to virtually nothing.
Most of you that are reading this will not be convinced. You will tell yourselves that China is not a threat. But just tuck this away in your memory and pull it out in a few years when things are taking a turn for the worse.
Russia and China are both rapidly becoming very powerful and they should be taken very seriously.
Do not take your eyes off of them.
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/why-the-chinese-monopoly-on-rare-earth-elements-is-so-incredibly-dangerous
【金融時報】希拉里：不應過度依賴中國稀土
2010年 10月 29日 14:56
中國窗
美國國務卿希拉里•克林頓(Hillary Clinton)呼籲美國及其盟友減少對中國稀土生產的依賴，這是美國高官就此主題發表的最為直率的言論之一。
但她對中國政府的聲明表示歡迎。中國政府週四表示，不會利用其在稀土市場中的主導地位，與其他經濟體討價還價。
中國發表聲明之前，希拉里決定延長亞洲之行，以便訪問中國。她將於週六在海南島與中國負責外交政策的國務委員戴秉國會晤。
稀土被用於精確制導武器和混合動力汽車等高科技產品。中國稀土產量占全球的97%左右，在市場上佔據主導地位，即便其儲量只有全球的36%。
今年，中國已經削減稀土出口配額，提高關稅，並被日本政府指責卡斷日本的稀土供應——中國對此予以了否認。
奧巴馬政府也在調查中國扣壓部分對美發貨的報告。
希拉里在夏威夷會晤日本外相前原誠司(Seiji Maehara)期間表示：“整個世界都必須尋找額外供應，以保護這些材料所滿足的重要生產需求。這些元素不只對日本和美國重要，它們在所有國家的工業生產中都很關鍵。”
希拉里發表上述言論之際，美中關係因中國匯率政策、綠色能源補貼，以及美國加深與中國的許多東南亞鄰國合作等問題上陷入緊張。
希拉里補充表示，當前對稀土的關注“為我們敲響了警鐘”：嚴重依賴某一種資源，可能引起自然災害或“其他事件”，造成破壞。
希拉里發表上述言論之前，中國工業和信息化部(IITM)新聞發言人朱宏任表示，中國不會把稀土“作為討價還價的工具”。相反，他接著說道：“我們希望在合作、發展和共贏中實現與各國在稀土資源利用上的互利合作，同時保護好這樣一個不可再生的資源。”
然而，多年來中國一直致力於成為全球主要稀土生產國，現在外界預計中國將加快減少稀土出口，很大程度上是為了滿足蓬勃發展的國內需求和希望供應國內工業，而不是向其他國家提供原材料。
http://www.hkcd.com.hk/content/2010-10/29/content_2623613.htm
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