Toward Decline
Not Just Rare Earths – Is This China’s Next Economic Weapon?
The Diplomat Institutional·2026-07-07China EconomyP1: Resource SovereigntyP3: Industrial BaseP5: Strategic Decoupling
Why it matters
Australia's high-tech defence and energy sectors depend on fluorine-derived materials for semiconductors, aerospace, nuclear applications, and EV batteries—all controlled downstream by China despite potential Australian raw fluorite access. This article exposes a critical gap in Australia's supply-chain sovereignty: mining raw materials is insufficient if China dominates industrial transformation, directly threatening Pillar 1 (Resource Sovereignty), Pillar 3 (Industrial Base), and Pillar 5 (Decoupling).
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