Washington Wins Headlines, Beijing Wins the War: The Rare Earth Power Shift

The world let out a collective sigh of relief today. Bloomberg's reporting preliminary signs that tensions between the world's two largest economies are finally cooling off. But make no mistake—this détente didn't come from Washington playing nice. It came from Beijing seizing the initiative and forcing America's hand.

Why has the offensive become the defensive? Because Washington's brutal, indiscriminate approach cost it the moral high ground and strategic advantage. China anticipated the backlash, deployed countermeasures early, and watched America's overreach become its weakness.

Washington's Scorched Earth Mistake

Brutal and indiscriminate was Washington's approach —destructive measures targeting thousands of Chinese enterprises' exports without distinction. What's the “Affiliates Rule”? Economic collective punishment, weaponized at scale.

This cost America the moral high ground entirely. Trump's administration showed no restraint, no consideration for consequences—only a scorched-earth determination to destroy the other side by any means necessary.

This "collective punishment" doesn't just cut off Chinese enterprises' technological pathways—it simultaneously devastates American companies while throwing global supply chains into complete chaos. That cost Washington its credibility worldwide. Such unreasonable behavior, harming others while inflicting damage on itself.

What America didn't anticipate was that China's countermeasures came swiftly and with surgical precision—nothing symbolic about it. The rare earth card struck directly at the heart of American high-end manufacturing.

Rare earths: China's knockout weapon. Once Beijing plays the rare earth controls card, Washington needs to pull its head out of the sand as the tides shift. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted both sides reached consensus on a trade agreement framework, stating Trump's earlier threat of “100 percent tariffs if the Chinese impose their rare earth global export controls” is “averted”. He then added that China "had threatened to put a global export licensing regime, and I believe that they are going to delay that for a year while they re-examine it."

America's Rare Earth Dilemma

With rare earths under China's control, America cannot complete its supposed "grand project" of rare earth self-sufficiency in one year. Not even close. If Washington wants stable rare earth supplies from China to keep its enterprises alive, there's a brutal negotiation gauntlet ahead. If Trump tries his "art of the deal" theatrics again, he'll find himself instantly reset to square one—April 2nd's tariff war starting line—and Beijing holds all the leverage to make that happen.

China has transformed from weakness to strength—this shift is massive. You could say it's won the fight against the entire world.

From Hand Grenades to Hydrogen Bombs

Let's dial back. On the eve of the Korean War in 1950, as Mao Zedong deployed troops and generals, he summoned Deng Hua from Guangzhou to Beijing immediately. Upon meeting, he got straight to the point: "It looks like Truman won't give up in Korea. Your task is to defend the Northeast border, but be prepared to fight the Americans, be prepared to fight an unprecedented major war, and be prepared for them to use atomic bombs. If they use atomic bombs, we'll use hand grenades, grasp their weakness, follow them closely, and ultimately defeat them."

Deng Hua responded: "Yes, grasp their weakness and fight accordingly. They fight with their advantages, we fight with ours—this is our good method for dealing with the American military." Deng Hua later served as the first Vice Commander and first Vice Political Commissar of the Volunteer Army, assisting Peng Dehuai in commanding the entire war.

"They use atomic bombs, we use hand grenades" later became a celebrated phrase—but how tragic those words were when spoken back then. Mao Zedong had to consider the worst-case scenario of America using atomic bombs against the volunteers in Korea, so he issued this order to such an important commander and political commissar—even facing a "doomsday weapon," the volunteer army must persist with hand grenades. At any cost, defend the homeland and protect the nation.

China has transformed itself completely. Forget atomic bombs and nuclear bombs—we've got hydrogen bombs now. Is that why America and the entire Western bloc fear China? No. Or that China would prevail in conflict yet again, with inferior weapons? Also no.

The Real Weapon That Changes Everything

What the US-Western bloc fully recognized in 2025 is that there exists a "doomsday weapon" powerful enough to immediately suffocate all manufacturing industries and technological development: rare earths.

Will this be deployed at any time? Here's the thing: China pursues "mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation"—it doesn't even want to use hand grenades.

Still don't believe it? This time Trump won all the headlines—China-US détente, crisis averted. If Trump manages to play nice without going from his "art of the deal" type threats to “TACO”, the Nobel Peace Prize is ripe and ready for him to take.

Deep Blue

** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **

Boys will be boys, I suppose. Diario AS captured the moment that stunned everyone. Marc Cucurella walked off in slides, hauling away the World Cup trophy his teammates had bled for, stuffed inside a see-through plastic bag. What was that about?

Rewind to the trophy ceremony itself. Trump handed the World Cup to Spain's captain Rodri, then simply refused to step aside and let the players have their moment. Online users mocked him for "clinging to the stage." FIFA President Gianni Infantino eventually had to physically steer the US president to the side of the podium. Nothing like it had happened in the World Cup's 96-year history.

Here is a theory, purely speculation. The Spanish players were furious but dared not say so out loud. So back in the locker room, they may have drawn lots to pick someone to speak for the team. Cucurella, whose curly hair sets him apart from Dutch legend Ruud Gullit in his own distinctive way, drew the short straw. He answered with a piece of postmodern performance art, mocking the graceless guest of honor.

For real, both Cucurella and Trump share a certain eccentric streak, so who else would it be when a stunt like that is to be pulled off? Before the final, Cucurella had already promised that if Spain won, he would get head coach Luis de la Fuente's face tattooed on his body.

Calling this a national embarrassment might be a stretch. But the numbers back up at least part of the charge. A survey that has drawn global attention just landed. The Pew Research Center reported last week that in 25 of the 36 countries and territories surveyed, most respondents view China more favorably than the United States, and that group includes Canada and Mexico.

Pew ran the poll between February and May, right as the United States and Israel were at war with Iran. Who tanked America's image? The answer is written on the wall.

A Pew spokesperson said this marks the first time in 20 years that global respondents rated China more favorably than the United States. Views of the two countries had crept close before. A clear tilt toward China, though, is new. The spokesperson noted the shift is unfolding as Covid-19 fades from memory and America's global image keeps sliding.

It all adds up. This has all played out during Trump's presidencies 1.0 and 2.0, a genuine wake-up call.

Listen to what the Pew spokesperson actually said. There is a link between the outbreak of war, the sense that the United States is not contributing to peace and stability, and falling confidence in Trump. On top of that, Trump's push to annex Greenland, the US military's capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and Washington's handling of the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas have all dragged America's approval ratings down further.

America's approval could still fall further. Why? Voters, through an indirect one-person-one-vote system, elected a president with the mental age of a five-year-old. Things were bound to go wrong. You and I both saw this coming, so there is little left to say. For reference, the countries that still hold a favorable view of the United States include Israel in first place, followed mainly by Japan, India, South Korea, the Philippines, and Poland. Even in those countries, however, favorable views of the United States have been weakening in recent years.

One postscript. After Spain's victory, reporters asked Cucurella when he would honor his tattoo pledge. His reply: "I'll definitely get it somewhere visible!" Good, very good. The most important thing is not to embarrass yourself. Above all, do not fail on the tattoo and then serve up a TACO, "Trump Always Chickens Out," as a substitute payment.

One more thing. Within less than 24 hours, Cucurella's trophy-in-a-plastic-bag moment had already outshone Messi in online popularity.