Beijing’s ‘Green’ Critical Minerals Campaign Exposes Its Weakness

China’s bid to bind the global South in a green mineral bloc is a scramble to secure shaky ore supplies as U.S. and partners race for China-proof supply chains.

A worker carrying containers next to pools in a mining waste dump area in Monywa, northwestern Myanmar, on Aug. 28, 2013. Ye Aung Thu /AFP via Getty Images

News Analysis

China still sits at the center of the global rare-earth system, but the ground under that monopoly is starting to shift.