The China Thread

[Admiral Yi]

The leverage that control of rare earths grants I can see.  The case for panel production is not nearly as clear.  the case for energy *use* is baffling.

[Jacob]

If you can (economically) devote 10 times the energy (arbitrary number) to your economy (and military) than your competitors can, that seems to be a pretty big advantage in industry and manufacturing (at least the bits that are require significant energy inputs) as well as any data-related industries (AI is famously energy intensive, as is the internet).

Or did you mean something else?