A Chinese fisherman collided with two Japanese fishing boats while in mixed territory. The Chinese fisherman was taken by Japanese. As a result of this recent altercation between China and Japan, China has chosen to stop exporting crucial minerals to Japan until the man is returned.
HONG KONG — Sharply raising the stakes in a dispute over Japan’s detention of a Chinese fishing trawler captain, the Chinese government has placed a trade embargo on all exports to Japan of a crucial category of minerals used in products like hybrid cars, wind turbines and guided missile.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao personally called for Japan’s release of the captain, who was detained after his vessel collided with two Japanese coast guard vessels about 40 minutes apart as he tried to fish in waters controlled by Japan but long claimed by China. Mr. Wen threatened unspecified further actions if Japan did not comply.
This
article also brings up this frightening statistic:
China mines 93 percent of the world’s rare earth minerals, and more than 99 percent of the world’s supply of some of the most prized rare earths, which sell for several hundred dollars a pound.
Japan requires China's earth exports, as Japan itself does not have many natural resources. As a result of this dead stop in supply, earth metal prices are soaring up. The world is hesitant to dig into their own supplies of natural minerals because of the high cost of separating the wanted deposits from the unwanted and the dangers of releasing harmful chemicals into the environment. As a result, China now dominates the earth market which allows it to have almost complete control over supply and cost. China's monopoly of rare earth minerals is surely a subject that countries should stress more of.
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