"It is a fact that the scale of China's manufacturing and demand has played a key role in driving down the cost of crucial technologies like solar photovoltaics, batteries and electric motors," the minister said.She noted that Australia is accelerating development of its own substantial deposits and talking to Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, the Republic of Korea, India "and many others" about how they can access them.Speaking to Bloomberg, King added that even with the initiatives described above, China will remain the planet's dominant source of all things rare earth.Not that anyone's falling for it- Junk cellphones on Earth would stack higher than the International Space Station- China discovers unknown mineral on the moon, names it Changesite-(Y)- China is trolling rare-earth miners online and the Pentagon isn't happyBeijing noticed King's speech and remarks, and foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian responded by saying "Countries with critical mineral resources need to play a positive role in keeping relevant industrial and supply chains safe, secure and stable.""No one should use economy as a political tool or weapon, destabilize the global industrial and supply chains or punch the existing world economic system," he added, before stating China will do its bit to "keep the world economy and international trade stable and diversified.""