Clinton calls for reduced dependence on China's rare earths

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton publicly called on the US and its partners to wean themselves from dependence on China for rare earth metals, the Financial Times reported. The statement, the most blunt yet made by a US official, comes shortly after Zhu Hongren, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, reiterated that China will not use rare earth exports as a diplomatic bargaining tool. Clinton’s comments were made at a meeting in Hawaii with Japan’s foreign minister, Seiji Maehara. Many media sources have reported that China continues to restrict exports of rare earths to Japan, crucial to many of its industries, after a diplomatic spat between the two countries broke out over the contested Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. Clinton announced earlier this week that she will add a short stop to China to her Asia diplomatic tour.