Japan, China need an economic hotline as well as a defense one

The more Beijing puts pressure on rare-earth exports, the less effective the leverage

A sculpture outside the office building of China Northern Rare Earth Group, with "Build world-class" inscribed at its base, in the rare-earth industrial hub of Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China. © Reuters

David Tingxuan Zhang is an analyst at Trivium China, a Beijing-based strategic advisory firm.