![\"China](\"https:\/\/cdn.ghana-mma.com\/2019\/06\/29074626-696x464.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"China](\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/29074626-696x464.jpg\" "\\"China")
<\/div>\nChina is bracing up to hit America where it will hurt most: depriving it of rare earth, a key resource used to make everything from smartphones to military hardware.<\/p>\n
China at the moment supplies 80 percent of America\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n
Chinese state media on Wednesday dangled the threat of cutting the exports of the rare earths to the United States as a counter-strike in the trade war and as America attempts to castrate China\u2019s telecommunication giant Huawei.<\/p>\n
The threat is the latest salvo in a dispute that has intensified since President Donald Trump ramped up tariffs against China and moved to blacklist telecom giant Huawei earlier this month, while trade talks have apparently stalled.<\/p>\n
Huawei stepped up its legal battle on Wednesday, announcing it had filed a motion in US court for summary judgment in its bid to overturn US legislation that bars federal agencies from using its equipment over security concerns.<\/p>\n
Beijing had already dropped a big hint that rare earths could be in the firing line by showing images last week of President Xi Jinping visiting a rare earths factory in Ganzhou, central China.<\/p>\n
An unnamed official from the National Development and Reform Commission, China\u2019s state planner, issued a cryptic warning late Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou asked whether rare earths will become China\u2019s countermeasure against unwarranted suppression from the US. What I can tell you is that if anyone wants to use products made from our rare-earth exports to curb and suppress China\u2019s development, I\u2019m sure the people of Ganzhou and across China will not be happy with that,\u201d the official said in answers to questions published by state media.<\/p>\n
The official said rare-earth resources should \u201cserve domestic needs first\u201d but China is also willing to meet the \u201clegitimate needs of countries around the world\u201d.<\/p>\n
Shares in rare earth companies surged in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets during Wednesday trading.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaging a trade war against China, the United States risks losing the supply of materials that are vital to sustaining its technological strength,\u201d the official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary.<\/p>\n
The state-owned Global Times tabloid warned in an editorial posted online that the \u201cUS will rue forcing China\u2019s hand on rare earths\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is believed that if the US increasingly suppresses the development of China, sooner or later, China will use rare earths as a weapon,\u201d the nationalist tabloid said.<\/p>\n
China produces more than 95 percent of the world\u2019s rare earths, and the United States relies on China for upwards of 80 percent of its imports.<\/p>\n
Rare earths are 17 elements critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones and televisions to cameras and lightbulbs.<\/p>\n
Beijing could hurt US companies in what is shaping up as a battle for who will dominate the future of high-tech.<\/p>\n
Huawei took the US to court over a defence bill passed by Congress last year that bans government agencies from using its equipment. But it also faces a recent Trump administration order that cuts it off from critical American-made components for its products.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe US government has provided no evidence to show that Huawei is a security threat,\u201d Huawei\u2019s chief legal officer Song Liuping told reporters, rejecting US warnings that the company\u2019s equipment could be used by China to spy on other countries.<\/p>\n
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