People's Daily Online>>Opinion
Rare earth case reveals US hypocrisy (2)
By Chen Weihua (China Daily)
15:32, March 15, 2012 
Experts believe it will cost tens of billions of dollars to repair the ecosystems damaged by rampant rare earth mining over the past decades. And American, Japanese and European businesses are unlikely to foot the bill.
On the other hand, countries such as the US, Canada and Australia, which used to produce rare earth minerals, stopped such manufacturing a decade ago due to the environmental concerns and the higher cost compared with Chinese exports.
When talking about China's purchase of raw materials from Africa and Latin America, many people in the US and Europe like to use the word "grabbing resources" or even "colonialism", but none of these people use similar words to describe the West's exploitation of China's cheap rare earth minerals.
This is just hypocrisy.
According to the US Geological Survey, there are about 13 million metric tons of rare earth deposits in the US. Instead of buying from China, Obama should propose tapping the US' own deposits. Such a move would not only enable the US to share the responsibility for the supply of rare earth materials, it would also create jobs for Americans, the single most powerful weapon Obama needs to beat a Republican candidate in November's election.
In filing the WTO case, Obama has to convince people why China should deplete its resources and disregard environmental and public health concerns, issues that are addressed prominently both in China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) and the recent World Report on China.
A win for the US, Japan and the EU in the WTO case would be a loss for the global environmental cause.
The author, based in New York, is deputy editor of China Daily US edition.
On the other hand, countries such as the US, Canada and Australia, which used to produce rare earth minerals, stopped such manufacturing a decade ago due to the environmental concerns and the higher cost compared with Chinese exports.
When talking about China's purchase of raw materials from Africa and Latin America, many people in the US and Europe like to use the word "grabbing resources" or even "colonialism", but none of these people use similar words to describe the West's exploitation of China's cheap rare earth minerals.
This is just hypocrisy.
According to the US Geological Survey, there are about 13 million metric tons of rare earth deposits in the US. Instead of buying from China, Obama should propose tapping the US' own deposits. Such a move would not only enable the US to share the responsibility for the supply of rare earth materials, it would also create jobs for Americans, the single most powerful weapon Obama needs to beat a Republican candidate in November's election.
In filing the WTO case, Obama has to convince people why China should deplete its resources and disregard environmental and public health concerns, issues that are addressed prominently both in China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) and the recent World Report on China.
A win for the US, Japan and the EU in the WTO case would be a loss for the global environmental cause.
The author, based in New York, is deputy editor of China Daily US edition.
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