REM (not the band)
This category of 17 elements are critical for smartphones, EVs, and military tech.
What are Rare Earth Minerals?
This country is the world’s largest producer and processor of rare earth minerals. (full government name)
What is the People's Republic of China?
Rare earth mining often contaminates this essential natural resource.
What is water?
The United States relies on imports for most of these critical minerals.
What are REMs?
The neg will argue Chinese mineral extraction keeps prices for green technology this.
Despite their name, REMs are relatively abundant but difficult to extract because of this issue.
What is complex and environmentally harmful processing?
China’s dominance in minerals is largely due to lower costs enabled by this factor.
What are weaker environmental and labor regulations?
This toxic byproduct is frequently produced during rare earth extraction.
What is radioactive waste?
These three sectors are especially vulnerable to mineral supply disruptions.
What are green energy, tech, and defense sectors?
The aff will argue extraction undermines global efforts toward this goal.
What is environmental sustainability?
This rare earth mineral is essential for producing high-strength permanent magnets.
What is neodymium?
This 2010 incident involving Japan raised global alarm over China’s mineral leverage.
What is the rare earth export restriction dispute?
Local communities near mining sites face increased risks of this health issue.
What are cancers or respiratory illnesses?
Countries seek to reduce reliance on China through this strategy.
What is supply chain diversification?
This international concern arises when one country dominates critical resources.
What is a national security risk?
China controls roughly this percentage of global rare earth processing capacity.
What is 70-90%?
China’s mineral strategy aligns with this broader industrial policy initiative.
What is Made in China 2025?
This environmental cost is often externalized to keep mineral prices low.
What is long-term ecological damage?
This continent has become a major alternative site for Chinese mineral investment.
What is Africa?
In order to expand their Exclusive Economic Zones, China is doing this in the South China Sea.
What is building islands?
This chemical process is commonly used to separate rare earth elements during refinement.
What is solvent extraction?
This Chinese region is known as the country’s rare earth mining hub.
What is Inner Mongolia?
This trade-off lies at the heart of the debate over Chinese mineral extraction.
What is economic efficiency versus environmental protection?
This term describes using economic resources to gain political influence.
What is resource leverage or economic coercion?
This country is particularly Not Pleased with China's presence in the South China Sea.
What is Taiwan?