Report shows how China took control of critical materials needed for defense technology

China controls over 80% of critical materials used in batteries essential for United States defense technologies, a new report revealed on Monday.

A report from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, “Unplugging Beijing,” outlined how China obtained a stranglehold over all aspects of the battery supply chain. Aside from the economic issues this caused, China’s dominance of the supply chain is argued to pose a dire threat to national security due to batteries’ essential use in drones, handheld radios, autonomous submersibles, lasers, and directed energy weapons.

Heavy equipment moves earth in Ganzhou in southern China’s Jiangxi province on March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Through a variety of predatory means, the report claimed, Beijing was able to seize control of upstream mining of minerals

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