Please Explain podcast: World's development of rare earths on shaky ground as China tension grows
Most of the world's phones, cameras and electric cars are dependent on minerals that are currently exclusively processed in China.
As the geopolitical tension between China and the US, EU and Australia grows, questions are emerging about the security of the world’s rare earth minerals supply.
At the end of 2019, China began to wind its exports back. As trade sanctions escalate, concern is brewing about Australia’s future access to these minerals.
In this episode, senior journalist Jacqueline Maley is joined by China correspondent Eryk Bagshaw to talk through how China's fragmented relations with Australia may affect the economy.
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Jacqueline Maley is a senior journalist, columnist and former Canberra press gallery sketch writer for The Sydney Morning Herald. In 2017 she won the Peter Ruehl Award for Outstanding Columnist at the Kennedy Awards