• A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
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    17 days ago

    In the meantime, shipments of rare earths have been halted at many ports, with customs officials blocking exports to any country, including to the U.S. as well as Japan and Germany, sources told the Times. China’s Ministry of Commerce issued export restrictions alongside the General Administration of Customs, prohibiting Chinese businesses from any engagement with U.S. firms, especially defense contractors.

    They’re clearly calling Trump’s bluff, but why include Japan and Germany in this? Worrying. The article doesn’t explain.

    BTW I don’t buy into the narrative that China is the better world dominator. Their human rights record is abhorrent, and they clearly aren’t a democracy. And I don’t see that changing anytinme soon.

    • ms.lane@lemmy.world
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      17 days ago

      but why include Japan and Germany in this?

      To stop US companies routing shipments through Germany and Japan.

      • Mirshe@lemmy.world
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        17 days ago

        Precisely this. You route a shipment to an un-tarriffed/un-embargoed country, usually to a shell company or something, and then ship it to wherever using THAT country as the country of origin. It’s a pretty common way of avoiding arms embargoes.

    • taladar@sh.itjust.works
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      17 days ago

      It is not so much that China is the better world dominator, it is more that the US is already dominating more than any one nation should and it is a good thing if politicians keep dependencies on nations like that in their minds as a concern.

    • 𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆@lemmy.world
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      17 days ago

      Because these are all loopholes used to bypass any serious moves. Like everyone is still buying Russian oil even in Europe. The blockade is an ineffective joke. This move is China saying fuck your instability and stupidity, we are serious and can back it up. There are no back doors and no way out of this insanely stupid mess.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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      17 days ago

      BTW I don’t buy into the narrative that China is the better world dominator. Their human rights record is abhorrent, and they clearly aren’t a democracy. And I don’t see that changing anytinme soon.

      China’s human rights record is abhorrent, but they’re mostly willing to keep it in their pants and not overthrow governments or fund genocides on the other side of the world.

      • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works
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        16 days ago

        tell that to someone who lives in an EU country where corrupt politicians are building out surveillance systems with chinese tech, and bringing the country into other large chinese projects from even larger chinese loans, along with chinese battery factories that are polluting our environment!

        to someone, like me.

        a neighboring country is also neck deep in this shit

        • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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          16 days ago

          I mean that’s not what I’m talking about though, and in the first place does it really matter if the surveillance systems are Chinese or American/Israeli?

      • pycorax@lemmy.world
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        16 days ago

        They sure like waving their sticks an awful lot in the South China Sea and pissing off all their neighbours though. And in some cases outright hostile. The US needs to be strong to keep China at bay and the reverse needs to be a true, a weaker US will let China get even more belligerent and as someone who’s a neighbour of the Chinese, it’s not a good sight to see.