A ship unloads rare-earth metals at the port of Lianyungang, East China's Jiangsu Province. Photo: IC

In a rare long article by China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), the country's security agency stressed on Thursday that China's export controls on gallium and germanium, two critical elements for producing semiconductors, are necessary to maintain national security, rebutting vicious interpretations of China's latest move by some overseas media outlets.  

Since August 1, China has implemented export controls on gallium- and germanium-related items. This legitimate initiative was maliciously interpreted by some individual foreign media outlets, the ministry said on its WeChat account.

"Starting more than a decade ago, when the national security organs solved key cases involving resource security in accordance with the law, to today, when the State imposes export controls on important minerals, China's determination to safeguard the security of critical resources has been consistent, and is entirely reasonable and legitimate," the ministry said.

Gallium- and germanium-related items have obvious dual-use attributes, and export controls are implemented in accordance with the law to ensure that they are used for legitimate purposes, in order to safeguard national security and fulfill international obligations, the ministry said.

Before issuing the control measures, China provided advanced notification to relevant countries through normal channels in a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory manner, without targeting any particular country, it noted.

The control measures are a reasonable move to ensure its own development. China has been the world's largest importer and consumer of strategic minerals for many years, and is now in the mid-to-late stage of industrialization and the rapid development of urbanization, which have led to a continuous rise in the demand for strategic minerals to promote high-quality economic and social development.

At the same time, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change, with the profound adjustment of the global political and economic landscape, which makes it necessary to better integrate the development and security of resources, to enhance the level of resource security, and to effectively guarantee the continuous, reliable and effective supply of resources required for development. The control measures are sensible and reasonable, and should not be criticized by anyone, the article said.

The controls are also a legitimate move in line with internationally accepted practices. Most developed countries have implemented control measures on their strategic mineral resources. The US and the EU have included gallium and germanium in their lists of key mineral catalogs under "special attention," and the two minerals are included in the export control scope of the Wassenaar Arrangement control list of the US-EU-led multilateral export control mechanism, the ministry said.

The security exception clause has also been stipulated in many WTO agreements to support member countries to take relevant measures to safeguard national security.

Over the years, the proportion of gallium and germanium production supplied by China to the world has greatly exceeded the proportion of the world's reserves accounted for by China.

"Under such circumstances, the adoption of controls to appropriately control exports and minimize the loss of strategic resources is in line with common international practice and has a very clear basis," the ministry said.

Whether from the historical perspective of human development or the global perspective of the rise and fall of nations, resources and energy are not only prerequisites for the survival of mankind, but also the foundation of national development and the guarantee of national security.

Resources and energy are matters of a nation's economy, people's livelihoods and national security. "Only by keeping the rice bowl of energy and resources firmly in our own hands can we achieve high-quality socio-economic development, and can the people live and work in peace and contentment with more confidence," the MSS said.