Friday 12 October 2018

Shutting down Lynas may tilt the balance of global power (updated)

A friend who is a former newspaper editor the other day asked me to do more research on rare earth after he read this previous posting of mine,

Lynas' worries - the risk of not being factual and objective

He said the issue could actually have global impact as processed rare earth is a vital raw material in the arms industry.

He said the possible shutting down of the Lynas plant near Kuantan, Pahang could actually tilt the balance of global military power as currently China produces over 90 per cent of rare earth with yearly output of 105,000 metric tonne.

A distant second is Australia with 20,000 metric tonne per year. This is the amount being processed at the Lynas plant.

According to my friend, the rare earth processed here is critical for the "free world" in the event China stops the supply of its rare earth to countries such as those in Europe, US, Japan and South Korea.

Aside from being important to the production of peaceful electronic and IT products such as our smart phones and computers, rare earth is also critical in the production of hi-tech weapon systems.



In the event of hostility with the West, my friend said China is almost certain to stop its export of rare earth to hostile nations, thus cutting off the production of their weapons.

"For such a scenario, the rare earth produced at the Lynas plant in Kuantan will be more important than ever for the free democratic countries," he said.

He went on to say that China and its allies such as Russia will benefit from the possible closure of the Lynas plant as they would have almost total control of the world's rare earth production, thus rendering the West at their mercy even during peace time.

"You should try to find out whether there's more to it than what it seems with this effort to close down the Lynas plant. Who actually funded those people who claimed to be environmentalists?" he said.

"And don't you think it's odd that the environment minister delegated the responsibility of handling this case to an MP who is a deputy minister in charge of religion? Furthermore, Fuziah is the MP of Kuantan while the Lynas plant is in the constituency of Indera Mahkota," he added.

The MP of Indera Mahkota is Saifuddin Abdullah, who is also the Foreign Minister.

To be honest,  I was a bit lost when he told me all that as I'm not really a technical person.

So, as usual I googled.

I typed "rare earth missiles" and at the very top is this,
5 Military Technologies Reliant on Rare Earth Elements 


Then there's also this from just last week,
China Dominates Rare Earth Mineral Supply to Sabotage US Military

There are many others if you care to google on the subject matter yourself.

Okay, maybe many of you all don't like the US and its allies and feel that it's good to help China by shutting down the Lynas plant. However, as my friend argued, an imbalance in the geo-strategic position of nations will not be good for the whole world in the long run.

I think even Dr Mahathir would agree on this point.

And to possibly have people claiming to care for the environment  but actually working for the interest of other country is not good either.

I can't possibly dig more like what my friend asked me. I'm a nobody, okay. For this one,  I'm just hoping that someone with authority will read this and consider doing the digging for the truth in the interest of the country.

By the way, all this reminded me of a conversation I had with the well known Indian-born US journalist Fareed Zakaria a few years ago.

I remember these words of him very well - "Everyone respects China, but no one really wants to go and live there. Given the choice, those who wished to migrate will choose US over China. You can even ask that among Malaysians of Chinese ethnicity. I'm quite sure most of them will choose US."

Well, the reason is quite obvious. No matter what are our grievances with US and its allies, we have to admit that they are the "free world".

I actually asked my mother to make the choice back then, just for fun.

"Ma, you prefer to migrate to China or US?"

Despite her being proud of her Chinese heritage,  I was not surprised when she said,

"Japan".

UPDATES at 21:50

Just saw this,

MP Fuziah withdraws from Lynas review committee



27 comments:

  1. After shutting down lynas kuantan, rare earth can be produced or processed at mt weld australia right
    Similar to mmc gamuda annie will complain lynas workers will lose jobs, workers voted for PH & she + dumbos will campaign for #savelynas or #savelynasjobs :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Could you ask your friend to research on why can't the Aussies just proccess it at their on backyard since its extracted from their desserts... why ship it all the way here...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's what Fuziah is asking.

      "She said the management only said the plant is safe and operating at low radioactive levels but does not talk about radioactive waste.

      “Now we are talking about radioactive waste, not low radioactive levels. By right, the waste should not be at the Gebeng industrial site. If they say it’s safe, I challenge them to send the waste to Australia.” —

      Bernama

      The answer?

      it's AGAINST AUSTRALIAN LAW.

      Yes.

      Lynas tried that. Aussie gomen said no.

      No radioactive waste import or dumping in Ostalia.

      Pandai lah these mat salleh.

      Just find a corrupt 3rd world country with greedy leaders, kow thim.

      Delete
  3. Annie,

    //the issue could actually have global impact as processed rare earth is a vital raw material in the arms industry.//

    I am surprised that this is new to you guys!!

    //currently China produces over 90 per cent of rare earth with yearly output of 105,000 metric tonne//

    Well, China has lost some market share in the last 10(?) years.

    They used to control 98% of the market. :)

    They once used that 98% control to force Japan to do something or other - I can't remember what but I recalled it made the Japanese quite upset.

    I vaguely recall they cut rare earths export to Japan and that really stuffed up Japan's electronics industry.

    All this is easily googled up.

    //In the event of hostility with the West...China is almost certain to stop its export of rare earth to hostile nations, thus cutting of the production of their weapons.//

    Aiyah, not gonna happen lah.

    In times of war, the West will mine and produce their own rare earths, OK?

    Anyway, I don't believe that countries like China or the US would be silly enough to go to war with each other.

    As it is now, even the trade war they are having seems rather measured.

    //Despite her being proud of her Chinese heritage, I was not surprised when she said,

    "Japan".//

    Aaaahh... that could explain why you like Japan :)

    Gladiator

    ReplyDelete
  4. ""You should try to find out whether there's more to it than what it seems with this effort to close down the Lynas plant. Who actually funded those people who claimed to be environmentalists?" he said."

    Annie,

    Betul ke ni?

    Is this "friend" yet another Annie Cerita Dongeng from Blog Technique No. 2?

    "He went on to say that China and its allies such as Russia will benefit from the possible closure of the Lynas plant....."

    Aha!

    You have discovered the truth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Yes, Fuziah is actually a Russian agent who works for the KGB.

    All the protestors were paid in rubles.

    Really.

    You must be the person who suggested to Umno that they should use the "for fighting ISIS" excuse to explain Jibby's 2.6 billion?

    Even though ISIS didn't exist at the time ; )

    Kipidap Annie!

    Dongibab!



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't worry Annie, even though Russian agent Fuziah is gone, Yeo is a China agent.

      She can pay new protestors in renminbi.

      Delete
  5. Lagi lagi Lynas

    Lynas' radioactive wastes not welcomed in Australia

    Only stupid Malaysians still insist on Malaysia being dumpsite.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wondering whether these lynas wastes are toxic onot & who got the expertise to dispose them :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 23:29
      And when fuziah want to review this lynas, annie + dumbos were howling fuziah got no expertise or locus standi so sad :(

      Delete
    2. Anon 00:49
      Dalam committee sekadar pi angguk, geleng dan nganga, minum kopi makan kueh abis meeting balik bohong buat claim allowance, buang duit rakyat sja. Elok la dia withdrew pun.

      Anwar pasti tengah tegang arini kat Port "Dick"-son. Hmm diramalkan 70% of total 75K akan keluaq buang undi = approx 52K worang. Aduhai nape cipiut cikit benar?

      Apapun, katakalooo Anw dapat 100%.. PH jgn get too excited, rendah2 sikit diri tu. Malu kat Wallace Huo tau. Dia sekadar lakun jadi emperor pun dah mampu menarik 10 BILLION viewers.

      Dah le PM pun sekadar 12/222.. please try to be more humble wokay.

      Professor Nasi Lemak

      Delete
  7. Cerita Dongeng Annie. Drama Minggu Ini. Opah.

    ReplyDelete
  8. penulisan nko ni dah merosot. seolah seorg model kecantikan yg terberak dalam seluar di parti tupperware nenek dia....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "seolah seorg model kecantikan yg terberak dalam seluar di parti tupperware nenek dia...."

      Hey, Annie only goes to Birkin parties in Seri Perdana, okay?

      Last time, lahhhhh....

      Delete
  9. Once wrong must be punished, punishment as a deterrent of future wrongdoing. But dumbos let najib ran wild & free like an elephant in a glassroom from who killed altantuya to who songlap 1mdb jadi dumbo dipersalahkan & digulung tikar :(

    ReplyDelete
  10. Annie bukan sekadar batu api instigator tapi juga pencipta cerita dongeng

    ReplyDelete
  11. The committee should ask Lynas what was the reason their Australian bosses did not choose to set up the plant in Australia or elsewhere nearer. Also ask how it disposes or recycle the waste. If necessary investigation papers should be opened to see if any undertable money had changed hands that has fast-tracked the approval. Add the question if the management has any contingency plans against floods at the site which has happened before the plant was set up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "If necessary investigation papers should be opened to see if any undertable money had changed hands that has fast-tracked the approval."

      You realise that these monkeys starting building & operating the plant BEFORE approval was given?

      I smell a corrupt rat in Pahang, the backyard of the Bugis pirate......

      Delete
  12. Annie,

    There's no logic in your explanation as to why we should go ahead with processing radioactive material here.

    Ada ka sebab perang senjata ? Malaysia neutral lah Annie oi! Kita tak mau terlibat dgn perang semua ni.

    One more thing, if it's so important, why can't it be setbup in Australia ? Why here?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Precisely Anon 1302

      Not only is the plant not allowed to be set up in Australia, the processed wastes from Malaysia are also not allowed in back there.

      Delete
  13. Org Kluang di parlimen13 October 2018 at 13:24

    Hello. Rare earth is a misnomer. West simply do not want to process rare earth. It is dangerous to the environment. Radioactive waste etc.
    As long as they can buy, they buy. If not, then they open the factories somewhere like Malaysia.

    Rare earth ada banyak.
    Orang barat taknak proses sebab prosesnya menyusahkan dan bahaya.
    Sebab tu negara barat lebih suka beli.
    Kalau China taknak jual, bila-bila masa negara Barat boleh buka kilang mcm lynas.
    Faham?
    Macam ladang bela babi di Singapura dihapuskan sebab Malaysia sanggup bela dan rosakkan alam sekitar. So, Singapura beli saja lah.
    Siapa pandai siapa bodoh?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. pigs are organic (not radioactive OK) sigh

      Delete
    2. Belajar BM. Macam. Analogi. Kesan pd alam sekitar. Sigh. Malaysian pun tak faham BM.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous13 October 2018 at 12:20

    "The committee should ask Lynas what was the reason their Australian bosses did not choose to set up the plant in Australia or elsewhere nearer."

    ......against Australian law.

    Also ask how it disposes or recycle the waste.

    .........it doesn't.

    Based on Lynas’ its Radioactive Waste Management Plan (RWMP), every tonne of rare earth oxide it produces will be an accompanied by 13.41 tonnes of solid residues — 7.93 tonnes Neutralisation Underflow Residue (NUF), 2.63 tonnes Flue Gas Desulfurisation (FGD) and 2.85 tonnes Water Leached Purification Residue (WLP).

    The worrisome residue is WLP, which has a radioactivity of 7.98 Bq/g. In 2014, an experiment to extract the radioactive Thorium from WLP conducted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) proved to be non-viable. However, the experiment revealed that the radioactivity of WLP was much higher than that declared earlier by Lynas.

    Lynas says they will make a recycled product called "CondiSoil."

    However, the proposed mixture of 1:2:7 of WLP: NUF: FGD will leave behind large quantities of unused radioactive WLP for lack of FGD to create CondiSoil — using all the FGD to make CondiSoil would only use up 13.18% of WLP.

    This begs the question of what Lynas intends to do with the remaining 86.82% of its radioactive WLP?

    Hide it under the carpet?



    ReplyDelete
  15. Annie is a real conwoman.

    She is not telling you the real reason why Lynas is not allowed to operate in its home country of Australia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No lah, Annie went into this topic only to attack Fuziah and PKR.

      Now Fuziah is gone, so I think Annie won't blog about Lynas any more : )

      Delete
  16. Good that Fuziah has withdrawn from the committee. Hope now the committee would be headed by an independent person of thorugh knowledge in the subject. Fuziah had exaggerated based on assumptions and grandfather's tales by so-called environmentalists who are funded by we don't know who. The present Prime Minister Tun Mahathir had stated his stand on the Lynas plant back in 2012. He stated that the plant is safe. He can't retract his words now because he based what he said on facts. Fuziah cannot retract her words now because doing so would reveal how she manipulated the matter for her own political agenda

    ReplyDelete
  17. The Use of Pesticides in Agriculture Area, Cameron Highlands. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282359599_The_Use_of_Pesticides_in_Agriculture_Area_Cameron_Highlands [accessed Oct 13 2018]. create more danger than the hypothetical accusations on Lynas. And what about the environmental destruction posed by uncontrolled hillslope development on Penang Island? Why are you all silent on these??? They pose real danger to health and the environment.... not hypothetical ones like Lynas.

    ReplyDelete