Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech

japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

541–550 of 611 posts

Re: China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech

#541

Post by botanical »

DiogenesKynikos wrote: post #513
HyperSane wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have been predicting that the US dollar will stop being the dominant global currency for a VERY long time. What are your thoughts on China's treatment of the Uighurs?

That people constantly raise, "What about the Uyghurs?" in conversations about the US and China constantly amazes me. After 20 years of constant war in the Middle East, including the illegal invasion of Iraq (consequence: several hundred thousand deaths), the overthrow of the Libyan government (consequence: a decade of civil war and a complete collapse of living standards), and the two-decade-long occupation of Afgha…

That invasion was "war"; which I am and was against. The Chinese government is repressing their own citizens. So why downplay the subjugation and genocide of the Uyghurs? (And I'm not American)

Re: China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech

#542

Post by efitz »

rnk wrote: post #422
efitz wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only there were a country in North America that had vast oil reserves, larger than Saudi Arabia’s, just there for the taking if politics and lawfare got out of the way…

Do you mean the us or canada? The oil tar sands in Canada are supposed to be expensive to convert to usable petroleum, also use a lot of water, and are supposed to be worse for co2 production. The us has lots of oil, we can get it out if we need it, more frakking, etc. Mexico is happy to sell us all their oil.

I was talking about the US.

Re: China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech

#543

Post by somenameforme »

kelnos wrote: post #521
somenameforme wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US both tariffs and sanctions can be (and are) unilaterally imposed by the president. Sanctions are crystal clear thanks to the IEEPA [1]. The president needs only declare an emergency, which is typically done in the exact same executive order imposing the sanctions. We're currently under at least 42 different national "emergencies", of which 34 are to impose sanctions. [2] The legal basis for tariffs is less…

But also consider that an act of Congress could modify IEEPA or repeal a specific tariff or sanction that the US president enacts. Perhaps that's a rare event, but those checks and balances are in place. In China, Xi can decide to impose tariffs or sanctions, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

I think this issue is what really cuts to the matter. China, on paper, has a similar system in place. Their system is based on tiered elections. You elect a local representative (who has significant power), who then elects (alongside other elected representatives) their representative. And this continues on up to the top where you have the ~3000 members of the National People's Congress who ultimately elect the president. The... NPC.

The NPC has immense power. They can override anything Xi Jinping does, and even have the power to completely recall him, or amend the constitution. But of course this won't happen. They have a one-party system with relatively minimal internal conflict. So even though the NPC is genuinely powerful and has every check and balance imaginable, they will not be using them.

Re: China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech

#544

Post by analyst74 »

eric-hu wrote: post #500
analyst74 wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a very western view on things. Chinese people from mainland cares much less about democracy than citizens from western countries. The primary motivation for Chinese people to want reunification is that it's one of the last remaining symbols of colonialism.

Just so you know, I have friends and family from Taiwan. Some left Taiwan, and some stayed their whole lives. Some are KMT and some are DPP. None of them want to reunite with China. Even the KMT ones just believe the KMT has a better plan for avoiding reunification. Some left Taiwan because they're afraid of a forced reunification. They care about democracy in Taiwan.

Of course Taiwanese people care about their way of lives, and they have full right to expect and defend that.

The problem is sadly much more complicated than "dictatorship wants to subjugate democracy". Simplified thinking is what the elites from China, Taiwan and the US wants you to think, so powers can be held onto and wars be justified.

Re: China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech

#545

Post by nswest23 »

moose_man wrote: post #2

"China is estimated to hold an about 84% share of the global market in neodymium magnets and an over 90% interest in samarium cobalt magnets. Japan, meanwhile, has about 15% of the neodymium magnet market and a less-than-10% share of that for samarium cobalt. If China bans the export of such technologies, it would be difficult for the United States and Europe, which do not traditionally manufacture rare earth magnets…

> 84% share of the global market

who will they sell to if they ban export?

Re: China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech

#546

Post by beebmam »

data-abuse wrote: post #479
beebmam wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is a state entity where its representatives are elected, and those representatives make the policy decisions on what nations get financial support for their militaries. To claim that these representatives don't make their decisions based on morality, or any other value that individuals have, is strictly false. One might argue that only individuals who have opinions in line with national interests are electable…

Different leaders have different policies thus the US is a true democracy and is moral? Just because the Overton Window[1] is large in the US doesn't mean that political dissenting opinions are not suppressed. Consider the Twitterfiles, the government is actively censoring speech critical of the FBI and politicians. Think of the Hunter Biden laptop story, do you think that if that speech was not censored that differe…

The original claim is that the US acts out of national interest only, and doesn't take actions based on morality or other values that individuals have. To oppose that claim, one simply needs to show that individual values have at least some influence on US policy, not that individual values drive ALL policy. I've shown that

Re: China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech

#547

Post by beebmam »

snehk wrote: post #489
beebmam wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is a state entity where its representatives are elected, and those representatives make the policy decisions on what nations get financial support for their militaries. To claim that these representatives don't make their decisions based on morality, or any other value that individuals have, is strictly false. One might argue that only individuals who have opinions in line with national interests are electable…

But the US support for dictatorships hasn't changed between Obama and Trump (or Biden). The US will support any dictatorship that furthers US interests and will oppose any dictatorship that does the opposite. Thus it's perfectly valid to say that it's never about whether it's morally right to support dictatorships. China is disliked by the US because it's a threat to America being #1 economically, not because it's a…

I think your first sentence is strictly false. For easy counterexamples, the US changed its policy towards both Cuba and Venezuela from cooperation/reproachment to outright hostility if not regime change between the Obama and Trump administrations.

Re: China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech

#548

Post by foverzar »

kelnos wrote: post #517
snehk wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason why the US doesn't like China is because the US dislikes the idea of being the #2 economy and losing control. The US has absolutely no "morals" so to say and is allied with/provides literal military support to about 70% of dictatorships[1]. The US simply acts out of national interests, not morals. History proves this. I'm baffled by how many Americans repeat state propaganda points. [1] https://truthout.or…

I don't care what "the US" is in this context. I care about myself and the people close to me. And I don't like what life might look like if China were to become #1 and be able to dictate even more about our lives than it already does. The US and other Western countries are far far far from perfect. They suck in many ways. But I much prefer the West's values over that of the Chinese government's, as flawed as they mi…

> to dictate even more about our lives than it already does

What exactly does China dictate about your lives?

I see people treat this like a fact, but there doesn't seem to be an incentive for China to instill its "way of life" outside of it, does there? So far this seems like a totally western outlook on external politics.

Re: China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech

#549

Post by Herval_freire »

borissk wrote: post #472
Herval_freire wrote: post #465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived in both the US as a citizen and china as well.

Some people are naturally born slaves and do prefer living in a society where their lives are completely controlled by a strong arm dictator...

[flagged]

Re: China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech

#550

Post by danaris »

meowtimemania wrote: post #227
decafninja wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Face. As an East Asian myself, the amount of stupidity that goes on in all of the East Asian countries at all levels because of “face” is astounding. Call it “honor” or “nationalism” or “XXX Pride” - ultimately all the same thing.

What do you mean by "Face"?

Like in the phrase "saving face".
Post reply on HN