Pakistan was exposed to rare earth, less than five days, China's control of technology, steady and rigorous

On October 5, the Financial Times that Pakistani Army Chief of Staff Assim Munir said Pakistani officials had offered the United States to cooperate in building a port in the Arabian Sea.

The location of the port here is the fishing port city of Pasni, which is only 113 kilometers away from the Gwadar Port operated by my country and only 160 kilometers away from Iran. Pakistan made it clear that the port will become an export hub for key mineral resources.

However, advisers to Pakistan's Army Chief of Staff Munir may not have imagined that China took action within five days after the news that they proposed to the United States to cooperate in building a port in the Arabian Sea was exposed by the media.

On October 9, China's Ministry of Commerce issued two consecutive announcements announcing the implementation of export controls on rare earth-related technologies.

Among them, my country's Ministry of Commerce issued Announcement No. 62 of 2025. The regulated technologies include rare earth mining, smelting and separation, metal smelting, magnetic material manufacturing, rare earth secondary resource recycling and other related technologies.

This covers the manufacturing technologies of key materials such as samarium cobalt, neodymium iron boron, and cerium magnets, which are the focus of cooperation between the United States and Pakistan.

You know, Western media disclosed that in late September this year, Pakistan had shipped the first batch of small quantities of key minerals and rare earths, weighing less than 2 tons, including copper, antimony and neodymium, to the U.S. Strategic Metals Company.

Neodymium is a key rare earth element for manufacturing NdFeB permanent magnet materials, and NdFeB manufacturing technology happens to be included in the latest control list of China's Ministry of Commerce.

U.S. interest in key minerals has long been evident. Mike Holomon, commercial director of Strategic Metals, revealed that the company plans to build a refinery in Pakistan and has heard of possible port planning projects near Passney.

The U.S. has not explicitly stated that Pakistan and our country have good relations and that there may be channels to access technology or production equipment provided by our country.

However, this time, my country's Ministry of Commerce has drawn a red line that these technologies themselves cannot be exported without permission.

More importantly, the Ministry of Commerce clearly pointed out that the reason for the implementation of controls on rare earth-related technologies is because "some overseas organizations and individuals illegally obtained rare earth technology from China and provided to users in sensitive fields such as military, causing significant damage or potential threat to China's national security and interests".

It can be said that our country has made it very clear. However, it is not difficult to understand that Pakistan has done so.

In recent years, Pakistan has frequently encountered natural disasters, has heavy external debt, serious inflation, and is in real economic difficulties.

Despite our assistance, Pakistan’s funding gap remains huge, which has prompted some Pakistani officials to hope to play a “balance card” between China and the United States.

By inviting the United States to cooperate in the development of minerals and ports, Pakistan hopes to ease its economic difficulties and “diversification” in its diplomacy and economy whileining decades of friendly relations with China.

What’s more, after the Pakistani Air Force’s full victory in the “Five-seven air battle,” the Trump administration has given Pakistan a favourite plus and has thrown India aside, which is undoubtedly a good opportunity for Pakistan.

In the face of this situation, China's Ministry of Commerce's response is quite clever, and through steady and rigorous control of rare-earth technology, the expected earnings of U.S. cooperation with Pakistan to build a port have been greatly reduced.

Imagine that although Pakistan advisers emphasized that the Port of Pasni plan does not include "direct garrison" and said that the port will not be used as a US military facility, the United States has not changed its mind once or twice.

Because of this, my country has further clarified the scope of rare earth technology control, which not only protects its own strategic interests, but also prevents the situation in South Asia from further deteriorating.