"The supply can be stopped at any time if Europe does something that China doesn't like"

Joris Teer was quoted in a Het Financieele Dagblad article on how the Iran-Israel crisis has exposed the lack of European 'hard power' due to Europe's dependency on American weapons and Chinese raw materials.

"We are all fishing from too small a pond," said Joris. "If China maintains its blackmail with heavy rare earth metals, or even goes further and stops supplying all kinds of materials, it will become increasingly difficult for the US to keep all partners safe. Then the pond we're all fishing from will get much smaller."

Joris continued to say that China's raw material blackmail is so effective because it is a flexible means of pressure and Beijing uses it to obtain concessions, for example, on European import duties on electric vehicles and other measures with which Brussels wants to protect its own market.