China plans to ban exports of rare earth magnet tech • Hacker News Board

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

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Post by seanmcdirmid » Thu, Apr 06, 2023, 4:43 PM UTC

curiousgal wrote: post #443

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are good reasons to diversify where we get things from whether we hate China or not. We aren’t allies, our goals are different and often in opposition, etc… China sees the USA the same way and is making moves accordingly, so why should the USA be dumber than China?

Out of curiosity, what goals are those?

The normal. China wants reunification with Taiwan, America likes an quasi independent Taiwan as an ally. Japan, South Korea security is a big issue for America, but China has territorial issues with either. Stability in Southeast Asia, keeping the South China sea open.

Overall, none of it really matters while everyone is making money. But China enjoys its preferential status as a developing economy while America wants it to increasingly play by the rules of a developed economy.

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

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Post by foverzar » Thu, Apr 06, 2023, 5:02 PM UTC

borissk wrote: post #442

Herval_freire wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Obviously you haven't lived in a dictatorship. Spend a few years in Russia or China or Turkey or Iran and then come back with your hypothesis about the raw truth.

Have you? Honestly, pompous "democracies" aren't fundamentally different to the rest of the world, when you start actually experiencing the day to day living.

There are lots of "dictatorships" where living is better then in lots of other "democracies", but this is not something you'll figure out from your internet feed, you really have to actually travel.

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

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Post by aaronblohowiak » Thu, Apr 06, 2023, 5:17 PM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #111

CamperBob2 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who do they plan to ship to using their newly-conquered shipping lanes, exactly? They will find that the rest of the civilized world can say "No" to China, just as it has to Russia.

Other authoritarian regimes. Autocrats gotta stick together. Besides, international sanctions don't last forever. Give it a decade and maybe everyone forgets. China is a gigantic market and that's a lot of political pressure. It's not a tiny island nation like Cuba.

> China is a gigantic market and that's a lot of political pressure.

how do their imports compare to their exports?

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

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Post by pfannkuchen » Thu, Apr 06, 2023, 5:20 PM UTC

throwawaymaths wrote: post #408

pfannkuchen wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free Trade for Free Countries is a decent slogan! I’ve long been disappointed that this isn’t the mainstream position. Anything else feels very hypocritical (for the US).

Eh, economic engagement with unfree countries got us south korea, Taiwan, probably more in eastern Europe: Albania comes to mind. Afaict disengagement only worked with south Africa.

My goal wouldn’t be to get them to change. We just shouldn’t get involved.

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

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Post by downrightmike » Thu, Apr 06, 2023, 5:27 PM UTC

dgoodell wrote: post #143

downrightmike wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't we just learn how to make magnets in a novel way without rare earth? Yes, yes we did: https://hackaday.com/2022/09/01/iron-nitrides-powerful-magne...

I don’t think that’s a commercial product yet, still on the tech development phase. It may not pan out. I asked for some samples a while ago so we could test them out in our magnet lab here at NASA GRC but I haven’t heard anything back yet.

NASA GRC Magnet lab, sounds attractive...

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

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Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 06, 2023, 5:56 PM UTC

RedCondor wrote: post #453

throwawaymaths wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you even talking about. China is regularly rated lower than Vietnam on human rights rankings and Vietnam is trending towards improvement. China is trending towards regression. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/vietnams-human-righ...

RFA? Come on. >Based on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, it was established by the US International Broadcasting Act of 1994 with the stated aim of "promoting democratic values and human rights", and countering the narrative of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as providing media reports about the North Korean government.[12] It is funded and supervised by the U.S. Agency for Global Media[13] (formerly Broadcastin…

[deleted]

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

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Post by throwawayx134ax » Thu, Apr 06, 2023, 6:09 PM UTC

imwillofficial wrote: post #312

sinoue wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Democracies aren’t beholden to the ego of an authoritarian. Free trade for free countries, and a tyrant tax for authoritarian regimes should be the norm if we want human centered capitalism. https://freedomhouse.org/explore-the-map?type=fiw&year=2023

"Not beholden", like say, unilaterally waging war on another country without congressional approval?

Unfortunately congress did vote. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization_for_Use_of_Milit...

They didn't declare war, which is unfortunate but congress did approve.

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

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Post by whinenot » Thu, Apr 06, 2023, 6:44 PM UTC

Emma_Goldman wrote: post #482

SkyMarshal wrote: post #460

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. This comment gets thrown around a lot but oversimplifies things. First, in the 90s, 2000s, and some of the 2010s ‘the US’ was China’s biggest cheerleader, investor, and supporter. Most US elites knew China would eventually become a bigger economy due to their 4x larger population, and were ok wit…

>"Second, sure the US doesn’t want to lose control of the mostly peaceful, prosperous, and free rules-based order it created after the disastrous first half of the 20th century. And rightly so." Which has been the justification every hegemonic power has offered when working to undermine a rising power. Whose rules are they, and who do they benefit? Who has most egregiously exempted themselves from the rules without c…

They benefit the world.

- Have you ever considered how much of your stuff comes via shipping lanes protected by the US Navy? Somali pirates got to FAFO what the USN thinks of pirates and we all see how that money making scheme has resonated around the globe.

- No US support = no Ukraine today (full stop)

- Is Taiwan still an independent country?

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

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Post by whinenot » Thu, Apr 06, 2023, 6:59 PM UTC

foverzar wrote: post #548

kelnos wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>What exactly does China dictate about your lives?

Extra-territorial policing might be a good start to the list.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63671943

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

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Post by rednerrus » Thu, Apr 06, 2023, 7:00 PM UTC

pimlottc wrote: post #247

rednerrus wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It lead to the longest era of peace and prosperity in the history of the world.

I think it's safer to say it /concurred with/ the longest era of peace and prosperity in the history of the world.

Creating economic prosperity and economic incentives not to fight was what led to peace and prosperity. This is absolutely causal.