HUAWEI has been blacklisted by the Trump administration in a significant escalation of the China trade war. And the tech trade war’s repercussions could result in China weaponising rare earth minerals.

And a seemingly innocuous visit by President Xi Jinping to a Chinese rare earth minerals company is being interpreted as an obvious threat that Beijing is readying to react.

President Xi’s inspection tour “is no accident, this didn’t happen by chance,” believes Li Mingjiang, China programme coordinator at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

“At this moment, clearly the policy circles in China are considering the possibility of using a rare earth exports ban as a policy weapon against the US.”