There is a reason for China's thunderous counterattack! On October 12, Japanese media revealed the truth that Beijing was completely angered.
Why did Beijing suddenly strike back?The Japanese media dug the truth behind it.On October 12, the Japan Economic News newspaper noted that China introduced the strictest rare-earth export controls in history, which was completely outraged by the United States.
The U.S. upgraded the entity list rules, banning any product from selling Chinese companies on the list as long as it contains 50% of U.S. technology.
Great powers no longer circle around and begin to directly attack each other's vital points.
China's counterattack focuses on three areas: resources, technology and geography.
China has one-third of the world’s rare-earth reservoirs, which is a divine advantage.At the same time, more than $3 trillion in cargo shipments pass through the South China Sea annually, which is also a natural geological hub.
China has tightly linked resources, technology, administrative power and infrastructure construction to form a set of systemic controls that no one else can break.
China has mastered 90% of the world's rare earth refining technology, which means that even if other countries dig up ore, they will not be able to refine high-purity key materials.
In the South China Sea, the "Haiyang Shiyou 982" deepwater drilling platform independently developed by China can independently extract oil and gas in the deep sea without relying on any external technology.
Technology turns natural resource advantages into real power. State forces then stepped down and concentrated rare earth mining rights in the hands of a few large state-owned enterprises to accurately control output and exports.
On the South China Sea island reefs, the airport runways and deep-water ports are erected, and the control of the state is engraved directly into this blue land.
The "50% rule" of the United States attempts to break a line in China's industrial chain.China's backbone is to directly regulate the entire network from rare earth mining, metallurgy, application to service.
The same is true in the South China Sea. In the past few decades, Vietnam has promoted militarization on 29 islands and reefs bit by bit. China's current response is simple and direct, with aircraft carrier battle groups and J-20 fighter jets cruising regularly, and permanent defense systems deployed on islands and reefs.
With overwhelming military presence, directly "freeze" the current pattern.
Behind this determination is a fundamental change in the national mentality.
If the border conflict in 1979 was still a warning to "stop", the strong stance that "there will be no second time" and the Dongfeng series missiles deployed in the surrounding area have sent a very clear signal.
Our goal is no longer tactical warnings, but pursuit of once and for all.
This tit-for-tat attack and defense has stirred the entire world. Each of the U.S. F-35 fighter jets consumes nearly half a ton of rare earth materials from China.
ASML, the European light engraving giant, its core components in precision equipment are also inseparable from China's rare-earth supply chain.
In the South China Sea, with China’s strengthening control, most of the foreign oil companies that had worked with Vietnam were withdrawn after 2016.
The United States wants to "decouple", but it is too difficult. They tried to rebuild a rare earth purification plant in Texas, but found that the technology had long been abandoned, and environmental assessment and high cost made the project difficult.
As for the so-called "extraction of rare earths from seaweed", it is more like a fairy tale in the laboratory, and there is no hope of commercialization within ten years.
More interestingly, the U.S. sanctions in turn unexpectedly stimulated China’s semiconductor industry.The revenue of these U.S. equipment giants in China fell from over 30% to about 15%.
At the same time, the self-sufficiency rate of China's domestic semiconductor equipment is expected to reach 50% this year. Facts have proved that China is rapidly transforming into a shaper of proactive rule-making.
On the one hand, there is indeed a feeling of anxiety, feeling that you have finally learned to strike back with the opponent's logic, and no longer just passively beaten.
This hard-to-hard confrontation will inevitably affect the lives of ordinary people, shake up the global supply chain and eventually turn into rising prices and shrinking jobs.
(Source: Ministry of Commerce No. 61 No. 2025, Decision to Implement Export Controls on Rare-Earth Objects Related to Overseas; Report of October 9, 2025)
Why did Beijing suddenly strike back?The Japanese media dug the truth behind it.On October 12, the Japan Economic News newspaper noted that China introduced the strictest rare-earth export controls in history, which was completely outraged by the United States.
The U.S. upgraded the entity list rules, banning any product from selling Chinese companies on the list as long as it contains 50% of U.S. technology.
Great powers no longer circle around and begin to directly attack each other's vital points.
China's counterattack focuses on three areas: resources, technology and geography.
China has one-third of the world’s rare-earth reservoirs, which is a divine advantage.At the same time, more than $3 trillion in cargo shipments pass through the South China Sea annually, which is also a natural geological hub.
China has tightly linked resources, technology, administrative power and infrastructure construction to form a set of systemic controls that no one else can break.
China has mastered 90% of the world's rare earth refining technology, which means that even if other countries dig up ore, they will not be able to refine high-purity key materials.
In the South China Sea, the "Haiyang Shiyou 982" deepwater drilling platform independently developed by China can independently extract oil and gas in the deep sea without relying on any external technology.
Technology turns natural resource advantages into real power. State forces then stepped down and concentrated rare earth mining rights in the hands of a few large state-owned enterprises to accurately control output and exports.
On the South China Sea island reefs, the airport runways and deep-water ports are erected, and the control of the state is engraved directly into this blue land.
The "50% rule" of the United States attempts to break a line in China's industrial chain.China's backbone is to directly regulate the entire network from rare earth mining, metallurgy, application to service.
The same is true in the South China Sea. In the past few decades, Vietnam has promoted militarization on 29 islands and reefs bit by bit. China's current response is simple and direct, with aircraft carrier battle groups and J-20 fighter jets cruising regularly, and permanent defense systems deployed on islands and reefs.
With overwhelming military presence, directly "freeze" the current pattern.
Behind this determination is a fundamental change in the national mentality.
If the border conflict in 1979 was still a warning to "stop", the strong stance that "there will be no second time" and the Dongfeng series missiles deployed in the surrounding area have sent a very clear signal.
Our goal is no longer tactical warnings, but pursuit of once and for all.
This tit-for-tat attack and defense has stirred the entire world. Each of the U.S. F-35 fighter jets consumes nearly half a ton of rare earth materials from China.
ASML, the European light engraving giant, its core components in precision equipment are also inseparable from China's rare-earth supply chain.
In the South China Sea, with China’s strengthening control, most of the foreign oil companies that had worked with Vietnam were withdrawn after 2016.
The United States wants to "decouple", but it is too difficult. They tried to rebuild a rare earth purification plant in Texas, but found that the technology had long been abandoned, and environmental assessment and high cost made the project difficult.
As for the so-called "extraction of rare earths from seaweed", it is more like a fairy tale in the laboratory, and there is no hope of commercialization within ten years.
More interestingly, the U.S. sanctions in turn unexpectedly stimulated China’s semiconductor industry.The revenue of these U.S. equipment giants in China fell from over 30% to about 15%.
At the same time, the self-sufficiency rate of China's domestic semiconductor equipment is expected to reach 50% this year. Facts have proved that China is rapidly transforming into a shaper of proactive rule-making.
On the one hand, there is indeed a feeling of anxiety, feeling that you have finally learned to strike back with the opponent's logic, and no longer just passively beaten.
This hard-to-hard confrontation will inevitably affect the lives of ordinary people, shake up the global supply chain and eventually turn into rising prices and shrinking jobs.
(Source: Ministry of Commerce No. 61 No. 2025, Decision to Implement Export Controls on Rare-Earth Objects Related to Overseas; Report of October 9, 2025)