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[–]chakokat[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated on Thursday that the EU relies completely on China for lithium, as the bloc imports 97% of its required supply of the material from the country.

"We have observed that China, over the last 20 to 30 years, has strategically bought mine after mine globally. They take the raw material, they have the processing procedures in China and then they have the monopoly for this raw material. Take lithium: 97% of the lithium we use in the European Union is from China. So we are totally dependent on this one on China," von der Leyen said during her opening speech at the Clean Tech Industry Dialogue in Brussels.

Media reports in September 2023 indicated that the EU faced the possibility of becoming equally dependent on China for lithium-ion batteries by 2030 as it had been on Russia for fossil fuels before the latter initiated its special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. ( bold mine )

I know the answer. Sanction China!!

[–]CaelianPost No Toasties 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

China... they have the monopoly for this raw material.

Not according to Wiki-Pooh:

Chile is estimated (2020) to have the largest reserves by far (9.2 million tonnes), and Australia the highest annual production (40,000 tonnes). One of the largest reserve bases of lithium is in the Salar de Uyuni area of Bolivia, which has 5.4 million tonnes. Other major suppliers include Australia, Argentina and China.

[–]chakokat[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

"We have observed that China, over the last 20 to 30 years, has strategically bought mine after mine globally.

They’ve observed it but they didn’t emulate it.

China rather than colonizing and exploiting is willing to legally purchase the mines.

China isn’t coming in with guns but with Renmimbi/Yuan.

Guns or Butter? The West always chooses guns. China chooses butter to grease the deal. ;-)