🇨🇳❌🇪🇺 China hits back at the EU and bans the export of medical equipment to the European Union

This is a retaliatory measure taken by Beijing after the EU banned Chinese companies from purchasing European medical equipment

Chinese medical equipment are found in hospitals all across Europe and North America. Experts believe many if not all of them have "backdoors" integrated potentially allowing their Chinese manufacturer to reconfigure the apparatus or even turn it off.

Rare earth metals are essential in the manufacturing of medical equipment. China already has monopoly on the processing of such elements. Last April, the Chinese ministry of commerce imposed export restrictions on seven rare earth metals as a result of Trump's tariffs: samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium. These can be sold to foreign companies who have a special license registered with the Chinese state.

Samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium are not just used in defense (key components in the manufacture of F-35 fighter jets, Virginia class submarines, radar systems etc.) but are essential materials in medicine.

Yttrium is used in the development of phosphors including red phosphors for LEDs and cathode ray tubes), electronic filters, electrolytes, electrodes, and superconductors.

Gadolinium and dysprosium are two key rare earth element used as a contrast agent in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans. Their ability to enhance signal intensity helps doctors visualize tissues, organs, and blood vessels more clearly, particularly in detecting tumors.

Scandium-44 is a radioisotope that emits positrons, making it suitable for use in PET scans. PET imaging helps visualize metabolic processes in the body, allowing for the detection of diseases like cancer and heart disease.

Samarium, Terbium and Lutetium are used in cancer treatments being capable to destroy cancerous cells due to their radioactive nature, though each element is used for a particular type of cancer, Terbium being used to treat bone cancers, Lutetium being used to treat prostate cancer and Samarium is used as a painkiller and substitute for opioids in patients with late stage cancer.

China has the power to shut down hospitals in Europe and North America and leave thousands of Europeans and Americans without access to machines that can detect cancers and cancer treatments and the EU (and the U.S.) are trying to pick a fight with Beijing without developing a rare earth metal processing industry and alternative supply chains.

Donald Trump's trade war with China during his first term, which was fought over rare earth metals, showed itself how bad for the medical field is as China heavily restricted the export of rare earth metals in 2018. This will repeat with Europe instead of the U.S.

@CIG_telegram