Moorookamick,Your reply was thoughtful.Like the Greek...

Moorookamick,
Your reply was thoughtful.

Like the Greek philosopher "Socrates", I try to ask more interesting questions than "do you think the LYC SP will be higher or lower tomorrow" for which the relevant answers are "yes" and "how the hell do I know?"

I agree that China must have a watching brief on LYC, if for no other reason than LYC's entry into the REE market may affect supply and demand, pricing and China's ability to dictate international REE market activities.

If China has severe domestic requirements which are eased by LYC taking up international demand, then maybe it is not a great concern to China.

However, given that China is moving into export of light industrial and consumer goods (e.g. cars, TVs, electronics), then one would not be surprised if China was concerned about the potential for LYC to forge alliances with other suppliers of these things; e.g. Japan, South Korea, and Europe.

Regarding the Malaysian reference, the Chinese in Malaysia are mainly Hokkien speakers and would likely identify themselves as “Malaysian Chinese”. However, Mandarin is becoming more widely a common language of Chinese people in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, etc. (including Australia), especially where people have family or business connections with mainland China.

So while the Malaysian Chinese are part of the government in Malaysia, and in favour of LYC’s operations, one could imagine subtle “guanxi” or business favours being called on.

What is ‘Guanxi’ in Chinese commercial culture?

?? Relationships or social connections based on mutual interests and benefits (Yang, 1994)

?? A special relationship which individuals have with each other in which each can make unlimited demands on the other (Fang, 1999)

?? A friendship with implications of a continual exchange of favours (Pye, 1992)



Presumably, LYC is familiar with the potential implications of “guanxi”.