Why China's control of rare earths matters | FT?

China controls most of the world’s rare earth elements, which are special metals needed to build phones, electric cars, and fighter jets. It is like owning the biggest bakery that makes the unique frosting for everyone else’s cakes.

Think about your smartphone. Inside that glass slab lives a tiny magnet made from neodymium, a rare earth metal. This magnet helps your phone vibrate when you get a call and keeps your screen bright. Without these metals, your devices would be heavy, dull bricks. China mines and processes about 60 percent of all these ores. They also own most of the factories that turn raw dirt into shiny, useful parts.

Imagine you are baking cookies, but only one person has the chocolate chips. If they raise the price or decide to sell them elsewhere, your cookies get expensive or disappear. Right now, if China decides to stop selling rare earths to the United States or Europe, it might slow down car factories that need these metals for electric vehicle motors. It could make technology cheaper for people in Asia and pricier for those across the ocean.

It is not just about having more dirt under the ground. It is about having the right mix of skills and machines to clean up that dirt and shape it into perfect pieces. When China holds the reins, they hold a quiet kind of power over the modern world’s gadgets. This means countries around the globe are now racing to find new mines or build their own factories so they do not rely on just one supplier for their tech treasures.