Rare Earths
Politics
How Turkey arms China’s rivals without angering Beijing
Just as it balanced its role supplying combat drones to Ukraine while deepening trade relations with Russia, Turkey is playing a similar game by advancing arms sales in the Indo-Pacific while staying out of China’s way. Italian commentator Emanuele Scimia gives his analysis.
Emanuele Scimia
29 Jun 2026
Politics
A tungsten mine exposes Myanmar’s China-Russia balancing act
Russia’s recent entry into tungsten mining in Myanmar reveals a three-way resource-security triangle: China controls much of the flow, Russia seeks a stake, while Myanmar’s military government is using access to resources as leverage. Academic Hao Nan gives his assessment.
Hao Nan
22 Jun 2026
Politics
How the EU is trapped in a status quo that rewards China
Europe finds itself at an impasse in its relations with China. Fundamentally, China holds more of the cards, and this does not change even with recent escalating events like the US-Israeli war on Iran. French researcher Mathieu Duchâtel gives his assessment.
Mathieu Duchâtel
26 Mar 2026
Politics
How the Iran war is stretching America thin against China
A prolonged Iran war is draining US munitions, critical minerals and industrial capacity, and weakening the country’s defence base and military presence in Asia as rivalry with China intensifies, observes academic Hao Nan.
Hao Nan
20 Mar 2026
Technology
[Video] Why China’s thorium breakthrough is a win for China’s energy security
Thorium is now emerging as a potential game changer for China’s nuclear energy advancement and energy security, after the country’s world-first breakthrough of converting thorium into uranium fuel in a molten salt reactor. ThinkChina’s Yi Jina explains.
Yi Jina
26 Dec 2025
Economy
Malaysia becomes a lynchpin in US-led effort to break China’s grip on rare earths
Within the US-led rare earth alliance, Malaysia has emerged as a crucial processing and manufacturing hub, strategically positioned to help build a supply chain outside of China. But it remains to be seen if China’s dominance in this field can be easily broken.
Caixin Global
05 Dec 2025
Politics
Will China play the rare earths card on Japan?
Amid rising tensions over Tokyo’s “Taiwan contingency” statement, China could turn to rare earths — essential for hi-tech industries — as a powerful lever. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Sim Tze Wei investigates the odds of Beijing playing this card.
Sim Tze Wei
25 Nov 2025
Economy
Green fortress: How China is forging the energy security of the future against the US
From Gobi desert solar farms to coastal nuclear reactors, China is quietly building the energy grid of the future. Self-sufficient, AI-ready and strategically insulated, it is turning climate goals into a “green fortress” the US struggles to match, says academic Hao Nan.
Hao Nan
21 Nov 2025
Politics
Malaysia-US rare earths deal: Gold or poison?
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim certainly has his hands full after being accused of selling out Malaysian interests by signing an MOU on critical minerals with the US. How will Anwar balance both domestic criticism and his desire to develop Malaysia’s rare earths industry? Malaysian writer Anthony Chong tells us more.
Anthony Chong Lip Teck
19 Nov 2025
Politics
How China saw through America’s bottom line in the trade war
Borrowing Mao’s logic of protracted struggle, China has shifted from defence to stalemate — countering US pressure with rare earth leverage and strategic patience — and in the process, uncovering the limits of America’s economic coercion. Commentator Deng Yuwen examines this subtle shift in power balance.
Deng Yuwen
10 Nov 2025
Politics
Busan summit: Trump, Xi and America’s fight to stay on top
The Busan summit eased trade tensions but solved little. Behind the smiles, Washington still faces its defining challenge — how to contain China without conceding America’s global leadership. Professor Robert S. Ross analyses what the Busan summit tells us about US–China rivalry.
Robert S. Ross
04 Nov 2025
Technology
China’s thorium breakthrough could power ships for ten years on a single charge
China’s recent breakthrough in converting thorium to uranium could potentially free it from reliance on imported uranium. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan takes a look at the advantages of thorium as a nuclear fuel and how it could change China’s position in the global energy landscape.
Yu Zeyuan
03 Nov 2025