Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident currently in prison for his views on democracy and human rights, won the Nobel Peace Prize this year. If time served in jail by someone speaking out against an repressive regime is a prerequisite for a Peace Prize winner, President Obama (Nobel Peace Prize 2009) comes up a bit short. However that is another topic. So how will China react? What will it mean for Norway (Peace Prize) and Sweden (other Nobel Prizes)? Well if things follow the same pattern as the recent island dispute between China and Japan, those two countries can expect the following: # Cancellation of tour groups from China. # Cancellation of bilateral culture events, student exchanges, etc # 100% customs inspection of anything exported to China - the usual rate is 10% # A sudden "unavailability" of rare earth metals. China controls 93% of the known global resources. # Norwegian and/or Swedish businesspeople will be arrested as spies. # Possible strong claims by China of islands considered to be Norwegian or Swedish territory - especially if there are oil or natural gas resources in the area (jk on this one, but who knows) Personally I feel the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to someone whose job has only just started. And I hope Liu survives long enough to be able to use some of the prize money effectively. China doesn't do diplomacy - my kindergarten kids could do better. But China is learning how to use its new found economic leverage, and "subtle" is not a word used often in the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Don't hold your breath waiting for a pair of pandas at the local zoo.
There will always be serious moral issues when speaking about China and how it handles different matters. In many aspects I concur with what they are doing, especially their stance on so called democracy, which would never work in China. Why? Look at India the worlds largest democracy, basically they have done nothing to alleviate the people in deep poverty, while China managed to lower from 400-500 million in the time of Mao to below 100 million today. India has huge amount of police (armed with AK-47s) presence in cities, yearly cultural/political/religious riots with 100s or even 1000s of injured/dead. In China you will see traffic cops, rare riots, last one was last year in a NE province. Ok you say Tibet, well I say that the Lamas werent really known for being so democratic while in power and poverty was all you had in those times, today China has built infrastructure (high speed train, schools, hospitals). Corruption, Indias most memorable is Coca Cola, who still sell beverages with pesticides in India, in China meanwhile they have already found and punished the culprits in last years melanin scandal ( infant milk) So which is better I ask? ps. have travelled in both countries
Oh, a statistic without reference :) So what freakily rare metals are those and for what do you need them anyway? I can agree with most of what you said more or less sissi, but... So you consider it a net gain to lose your religious identity+be opressed by a foreign nation+have a bunch of han chinese be resettled in what used to be your country to breed away what is left of your national identity - if you get nice and shiny new infrastructure?
Neither. All countries have problems. Where I live in England we had various politicians come to light over excessive claims for things like duck ponds ! :D However overall it's a good country. In America human rights are still not fully realised, it has a history of violance and murder of innocent black people and continues to this day. China has problems just like any other country. I wonder though if the prize was given to this chinese individual as political attack on China? It wouldn't surprise me but It may also be be given as an innocently as a recognition of his achievement/struggle. (i don't really know much about him or the situation).
Sorry Kay There are 17 elements on the periodic table considered to be rare earth metals. Most have a very high magnetism to weight ratio and are used in computers etc. Also lasers, and car exhaust systems. Industrially the amounts used are pretty small, and scientists are scrambling to find alternatives in case China stops the supply suddenly.
That didnt quite get the intention of my question. How many of these 17 elements are almost China-only and what are those used for. For example I know there's at least one rare metal that mostly comes from one mine in Congo, so it is not of interest in this case. Whats the number China controls? That's quite an interesting issue. On another note: China wont stop supplying resources for some stupid reason like a dissident getting some prize noone cares about. They'll mumble about it to keep face, maybe ignore Norway for a while and Norway will buy chinese ressources (if it needs them) via a reseller in another country. It all comes down to hot air... Why? Because there is no gain from ignoring a paying customer unless other customers pay you more if you do. Update China actually has a plan to stop selling rare metals. Not for political reasons, but to use it themselves. In most cases China doesnt control most of the market because they are the only one's who have it in the ground, but because they put competitors out of the market. Thats not irreversible. Source But that article is a year old.. Update2 China temporarily bans rare metal export to japan, Article from Septembre 29th The Australian company Lynas, mentioned in the 4th paragraph from the bottom and here is partly owned by China. Will take a look at this later. That would have been a more interesting subject for my bachelor thesis xD
Yes, if my child is saved during birth complications. Yes, if my child gets education. Yes, if my child has the opportunity to travel. Religion is not prohibited in Tibet, only the dalai lama and his entourage are banned, there is a rinpoche placed by the chinese government, dunno which is better, a random child chosen or some1 put there by Beijing. As I stated be4, tibetians went from one oppressive state to another, tho the latter one at least seems to bring hope for a healthier future. On a side note, ask the irish, scottish, etc what they think about oppression :)
Thats a joke, right? They hate the english? Koreans hate Japanese? The nations in former Yugoslavia hate each other so much, the only reason they dont get at each others throats again is foreign military?
amounts to the same thing. foreign business would be forced to setup operation in the country, with china then having full access to their technologies. china then potentially becomes the only country capable of manufactruing hightech goods. Japanese industry has forseen this and been stock piling many rare earth metals for years. irony is, the wests consumerism and stock markets are the driver behind this as they demand cheaper goods and ever higher earnings through lower costs of labour, material and energy.
It depends on how fat your wallet is. China having a significant landmass without the same restrictions of people living on a piece of land, cheap labor, workforce safety issues, etc. they can cheaply extract a large variety of materials that would not be cost effective to obtain from other countries. Sure we can probably find almost everything some place else, but you might not be able to afford anything that uses the materials.
ok, that was indeed a bad choice of words. I meant not for reasons of foreign affairs. its part of their economic policy. and trying to force business into your country isnt uncommon, the US do that too, as well as the russians. EU has taken a different road, but you can still frown upon it. rules are meant to be bent :D old news :) china is already producing our hightech goods. for example, do you think the "high value" apple products see a western country other than in a retail box? what stays in the respective home country are often HQ, R&D and marketing, things you cant or dont want to offshore. did you know that airbus and boeing are planning to open production facilities in China in order to simplify the sales of planes there, fully knowing that they can expect a chinese aircraft manufacturer in the... what do you call the middle between near and remote future in english? medium? anyway, five to twenty years aww, the poor stock markets again ^^ international division of labor is sound economical theory and a win-win situation. as long as noone tries to abuse their position that is I think thats a tad too dramatic. One of the more expensive one's (dont remember the name) was fifty-something $ per kilogramm. Lets say it'll be 200$ if produced in a different country. Computers may need a few gramm, I guess. catalysts need more, but compared to the price of a new car a few hundred dollars is still nothing... The real concern for materials you need in small amounts is availability.
you a factor of 10 out for some of them. there are literally millions of computers and cars made every years, that few grams adds up real quick.
I stand corrected. Still, who cares about the sum? If you buy a computer, do you care about the 5% price increase for you as an end consumer - or the fact that the producer had to pay triple for a metal you may never have heard about? The producer will care about the price per customer as well, because that determines his sales.
It sounds like you're implying the prices will remain stable and low due to market forces on retailers. If the supply is effected in such a far reaching global manner, everyone increases prices and nothing more than the ability to pay checks this. With key resources becoming highly scarce or requiring new channels, we'd probably be looking at much more than 5 or 10% increases. Ultimately as a resource becomes unavailable completely then the final stock of simple items goes crazy.
What I am saying is that we (or at least I :D ) dont know to which extent some materials will become scarce. Meaning: Stay calm. This wont stop the Information Revolution, though it may affect the rate at which poor countries are connected to the internet. It wont cause the global economy to fail. Some companies maybe, but that's the way it goes. Consumers do not buy ressources. You'll still be able to buy a computer and the other stuff that is produced with these metals. As I said, some companies may fail if the price increase becomes too much but the products wont become unavailable,they'll just be Made in China. And that's often enough the case already.
Well, I have to admit my inital post was alarmist and it seems there has been no serious reaction by China against either Norway or Sweden for awarding the Nobel prize to Liu. on the other hand.... http://www.smartplanet.com/business...rgy/china-bans-rare-earth-exports-to-us/3252/ Like the address says, China has stopped exports of rare earth metals to the US. The United Steelworkers union lobbied the US Congress to determine whether China is subsidizing production of green technology.
