The New York Times smelling defeat by trying to explain how the US had no choice while China is overplaying its hand. Like Europe has nothing to do with China’s dispute with the US so why are they being punished with China’s rare earth restrictions? Maybe because they want to punish China because Russia invaded Ukraine…? China’s rare earth restrictions only hurt the West and allies not the world because who has industrial and technological capacity to need them…? The West likes to exaggerate who’s on their side. China’s overplaying its hand because it didn’t see the consequences against China because of it. Like before China’s restrictions, the West didn’t see the consequences of threatening decoupling with China that’s playing right now? That’s why Westerners come across as racist because they’re talking to inferiors that will fall for it. But the message is for their own people to give them an excuse to stick with them.