China Industry

China in the 19th century: a proud and ancient empire forbidden to foreigners. The West desires Chinese tea above all other things but lacks the silver to buy it. Instead, Western adventurers resort to smuggling opium in exchange. The Qing Emperor will not allow his people to sink into addiction. Viceroy Lin is sent to the epicentre of the opium trade, Canton, to stop it. The Opium Wars begin - heralding a period of bloody military defeats, reparations, and one-sided treaties which will become known as the Century of Humiliation.

What if the next world war doesn’t start with bombs—but with a trade ban? In "Mines, Magnets, and Mayhem: How China’s Rare Earth Monopoly Could Cripple the West", author Joseph Ejike Ojih (Ph.D.) tears the veil off one of the most dangerous global dependencies of our time. Rare earth elements—essential to fighter jets, electric vehicles, smartphones, satellites, and missiles—are the invisible lifeblood of modern power. And China controls nearly all of them. With explosive clarity and unflinching detail, Dr. Ojih walks you through how China cornered the rare earth market, how ...