“China scores a TKO in Tokyo”
The Japanese seized the crew of a Chinese fishing boat that rammed two Japanese coast guard vessels on Sept 7. The dispute escalated but although Japan appeared willing to challenge the brunt of China’s military might, they quickly backed down when they realized that, when it came to the actual fight, China meant “business.” When China rolled out its weapons of mass production and threatened to cut off their supply of dysprosium, the Japanese surrendered outright. Dysprosium is the lifeblood of Japan’s vaunted high-tech industries. It is used in everything from iPhone screens to the electric motor of the Toyota Prius. China produces 93 per cent of the world’s supply. Although no shots were fired and no-one got hurt, I think we can safely score this one a Technical Knock Out in favour of the Chinese (and for Japan a technical knockout is tantamount to failure of the most heinous proportion). More details (a.k.a. the facts) are available here.