If You Liked Being Dependent On Middle East Oil You Will Love Being Owned By China

For decades the Holy Grail of energy was energy independence. As our sons and daughters fought and died for Middle Eastern oil, we dreamed of one day being able to supply all our own energy needs. Then, for one brief shining moment under Donald Trump, we achieved that goal. We could stand on our own two feet. We could fuel our own cars.

No longer. Joe Biden took a sledgehammer to our oil and natural gas production the moment he stepped into the Oval Office. As gas prices rocket to unprecedented heights, we are now reduced to begging the likes of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela to sell us oil.

As bad as this is, though, it will get much worse. The ultimate plan is to push us into complete and utter dependence on Communist China. The end state of Biden’s so-called “Green Economy” will be an American economy, which can be shut off without warning and crushed by the Chinese Communist Party.

Biden’s fantasy of a new, “cleaner” economy depends on the electrification of our entire economy. Leaving aside for a moment questions like “how do we generate this electricity” and “won’t we just burn coal and natural gas at the generating plants” this new kinder, gentler world means dependence on a whole range of products that are made with rare earth minerals.

There are seventeen different rare earth minerals. Rare earth minerals are considered "rare" because it's hard to find them in sufficient concentrations to exploit them economically. They also require a lot of energy to extract and process for further use.

Rare earth minerals are used in the production of high-tech weapons like the F-35 fighter jet. They are also used in a vast array of other products iPhones, DVD players, and rechargeable batteries. They are particularly critical for the production of many “green” products, such as LED lights, motors in electric cars, and generators in wind turbines.

If you don’t have rare earth minerals, you don’t have a “green” economy. Your new Tesla does not go very far without a battery in it, and that battery can’t be made without rare earth minerals.

The reserves of rare earth minerals are scattered all over the world. Forty percent of those reserves are in China. China’s control over rare earth minerals is much greater than that figure would suggest, however. Over 70% of the actual rare earth mineral production is in China. China’s control over the actual processing of rare earth minerals is even greater than that. Fully 90% of all rare earth minerals are actually processed in China.

TheBlaze @theblaze

"Pete Buttigieg clearly doesn't understand that electric vehicles are made from OIL...moreover, the battery components themselves are made of rare earth elements, the supply chain of which is controlled by China." @JackiDailyHost drops knowledge on Buttigieg, w/@conservmillen

Anytime China wants, it can throttle the supply of rare earth minerals and effectively crush economies dependent on them. Eighty percent of U.S. imports of rare-earth metals come from China, according to the US Geological Survey. And, the Chinese fully understand the power this gives them.

As far back as 1992, Deng Xiaoping stressed that “the Middle East has oil; China has rare earths.” In May 2019, China’s Natural Development and Reform Commission published a bulletin regarding the prospects of a rare-earths-export ban. The notice read:

“Will rare earths become China’s counter-weapon against the U.S.’s unwarranted suppression? What I can tell you is that if anyone wants to use products made from rare earth to curb the development of China, then the people of the revolutionary soviet base and the whole Chinese people will not be happy.”

Jeff Harris @TheVotersSay

If you think moving to electric cars is going to “free” the world from having to deal with authoritarian states, there is something that you should know… 1) Rare earth metals are needed to make electric cars. 2) China dominates the market - by a lot.

These are not empty threats. In 2010 China cut off rare earth exports to Japan amid a maritime dispute that saw a Chinese boat captain captured by Japanese authorities. Japan immediately released the Chinese captain in what the New York Times called a “humiliating retreat.” It then made serious efforts to identify alternative sources of rare earth minerals and wean itself off Chinese exports of rare earths.

Only weeks ago, Beijing announced sanctions against Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, two of the biggest American defense contractors. Neither company is now able to buy rare earth minerals from China. This action was taken in retaliation for American efforts to support Taiwan.

“To safeguard China’s sovereignty and security interests, the Chinese government has decided to take countermeasures in accordance with relevant stipulations in China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law on the infringing acts of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, both of which are military-industrial enterprises that have long participated in the US arms sales to China’s Taiwan region,”

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin

China imposed a similar ban on exports in 2020 against Lockheed, Raytheon, and Boeing. As a consequence, Lockheed had to slow production of the F-35 and delay test flights of the jet.

Foreign Policy @ForeignPolicy

Every advanced weapon in the U.S. arsenal—from Tomahawk missiles to the F-35 fighter jet to Aegis-equipped destroyers and cruisers and everything in between—is absolutely reliant on components made using rare-earth elements.

buff.lyHow China Could Shut Down America’s DefensesAdvanced U.S. weapons are almost entirely reliant on rare-earth materials only made in China—and they could be a casualty of the trade war.

You are paying well over four dollars a gallon for gasoline. You may be paying seven bucks a gallon soon. This is only the beginning of the nightmare.

Biden and his mandarins are pushing ahead aggressively with the transformation of our economy into something that is completely dependent on the goodwill of the Chinese Communist Party to survive. The CCP will decide if cars can be built in Detroit. The CCP will decide if we can make fighter jets or satellites or missiles.

We are handing the keys to our number one adversary and placing ourselves at the mercy of men who enslave their own citizens, practice forced organ harvesting, and use genocide as a political tool. We are giving Beijing the capacity to destroy us without firing a shot.

If you liked being dependent on Middle East oil, you will love being owned by China.