Miscellaneous News

plawolf said:

China REALLY wants Trump to invade Venezuela!

But half joking aside, while the Americans are infamous for loving to create problems for the other side before big negotiations and offer to solve those problems to get real concessions for basically nothing, I think they are about to get a real masterclass in how many such cards the Chinese bureaucratic machine can churn out for Beijing at will.

So REE exports went from officially banned to merely practically banned. Chinese companies are no longer banned from selling REE to the Americans, they just all universally, independently choose not to, for purely business and economic reasons of course. Easiest would be that a certain Chinese SOE just bought out all of China’s annual output of those REE the Americans are so desperate for, for the next decade. Here, we have a fully signed contract dated 1 day before the export ban was lifted. Hands are tied, computer says no. You understand.

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Iracundus said:

You don't want to say an outright no because then they might be desperate enough to try and build up REE industry. Say yes and take the order. Put on wait list and tell them to wait for their turn. Oops, typos found in paperwork so they must re-submit. No, of course they're not banned, they just have to do the paperwork properly. But now they have to go back on the wait list at the bottom all over again etc.. Can string them along like that so they delay in building up REE industry themselves. Maybe dribble a tiny amount irregularly so they remain uncertain and cannot determine if it would be cheaper/easier to buy or to try and build up the industry themselves.

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In Brazil, the world’s sixth-largest car market, over 80 percent of electric vehicles sold are Chinese.

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Last month, BYD inaugurated its biggest factory outside Asia, at a plant in Bahia State, in northeastern Brazil, that was once run by Ford. Also this year, GWM, another Chinese company, took over a massive plant that once belonged to the German automaker Mercedes-Benz. The plan is to sell the electric cars produced at these factories across Brazil and the rest of Latin America.

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On a weekday just before the summit kicked off, the streets were gridlocked, but the clouds of exhaust were thinner than they had once been. The roads were dotted with electric cars, humming quietly in the midday traffic. Dignitaries zipped around in

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, their windows frosted by air-conditioning. Electric buses shuttled passengers around the city.

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luminary said:

Lula, host of COP30, drives BYD as his official car to open the climate conference.

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Boomers are the most wealth-hoarding generation alive, arguably responsible for enabling the turbo charged private equity practices today, then dare to complain when the younger gens ask for an inheritance.

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Clango said:

That sucks, but maybe it's to cripple their RE efforts.

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luminary said:

Lula, host of COP30, drives BYD as his official car to open the climate conference.

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Boomers are the most wealth-hoarding generation alive, arguably responsible for enabling the turbo charged private equity practices today, then dare to complain when the younger gens ask for an inheritance.

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Clango said:

New York Times wrote something that has something to do with China without adding "but at what cost"? Did they fire their entire editorial team?

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ismellcopium said:

A good general rule when observing anything is to consider whether it's what the actor would prefer to be doing or whether they're doing so out of having no other choice. One of my theories for why the RE controls aren't being pursued more aggressively is probably because the desired result, crippling US military industry, was assessed to be unattainable at a reasonable cost, ie without crippling the rest of the world economy. In other words without a full worldwide embargo the US would probably be able to secure enough for the MIC by coercion, force and covert diversion to make things impractical. And... probably in part because the relative trajectories are judged favourable enough (ie, we'd confidently win anyway) that such extreme measures to stunt the US aren't warranted.

Also, those 3 metals named are not among the hardest rare earths to make if I'm not mistaken.

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Eventine said:

Indeed, it would be senseless for the Chinese government to sabotage a relatively China friendly government in South Korea over some racist bars and cafes.

We must remember that within every society, there are different factions, and we should never confuse them for each other and in doing so, inadvertently give power to the enemy factions. That is what the right-wing supporters in South Korea want, ultimately - to sabotage the present government and stir up conflict with China.

They and their handlers in the West want to bait China into escalating and trashing relations - and the right action, here, is obviously not to bite.

This is also why I think the problem needs to be resolved at the grass roots level, not the government level. The Chinese population should organize and create a black list for businesses and owners deemed hostile to China - a hall of shame so to speak - that could then be used to "cancel" them on social media and to pressure investors, companies, celebrities etc. into not working with them.

It's this kind of pressure tactic that will have the most effect on isolating and containing those black elements to the fringe of global society, and make them pay without ever falling into their trap.

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tamsen_ikard said:

What does being "relatively friendly" mean. What concrete actions have this new korean govt taken that is worthwhile. Absolutely nothing. Instead they are gunning for nuclear submarines as a disguise for nuclear weapons in the future. They are testing ICBM level long range missiles. China is not foolish enough to think these things are for North Korea.

China needs to make it explicit that being friendly means acting friendly and take actions that increase the friendliness. They have also given free pass to Albanese govt in Australia which again maybe talks less aggressively but does the same thing. Is talk the only thing China cares about?

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