China’s top spy agency vows to safeguard critical minerals, slams Western tech containment
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China’s anti-spy agency has put safeguarding of the country’s supplies of critical minerals as among its top tasks, accusing the West of trying to contain China’s development.
“Critical mineral resources are the important basis for serving the development of new industries. They are the top priority for resource security,” the Ministry of State Security said in a post on its official social media account on Thursday.
“[Some Western countries] have built ‘small yards and high fences’ to gain access to critical mineral resources by any means, thus seriously impeding the process of globalisation,” it said, referring to sanctions.
“Strategic critical minerals have become an important engine for speeding up the building of a modern industrial system and promoting high-quality economic development, which is directly related to national security,” it said.
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China restricts critical metal exports following Western semiconductor curbs in latest trade war
The post comes months after China ordered export restrictions on gallium and germanium, important metals used in semiconductor manufacturing, and several of their compounds, in retaliation against Western sanctions on its chip industry.