By contrast, the US would rather keep its trade deficit with China than sell it high-tech products and services. The US constantly urges China to buy its agricultural products like corn and soybeans, and remove all kinds of obstacles.

Such practices of forced business are reminiscent of gangsters in farm produce markets.

Many Western countries used to acquire global resources at cheap prices and sell their high-priced products to the Third World with no obstacles. During this process, they established a set of rules. As China and a few other countries emerge, the West now claims the right to revise and even abolish some of the old rules.

China should tell the US and Japan, "Folks, there just is not enough rare-earth mineral reserves. Let's all be reasonable." China should persuade the US to restart exploring its own rare-earth reserves, though the cost might be higher than importing them from China. It can tell Japan not to stock a large amount of rare-earth minerals.

China has no interest in fighting a rare-earth mineral war with them. It understands their concerns, however, China's regulation over mineral exploration and export should also be taken into serious consideration.

It is in the interests of all parties to reach a common ground on the issue, but the compromise cannot be imposed on China. Suspicion will not lead to solution.

The current rare-earth situation is a shared challenge for all countries to be rational when dealing with a precious resource. Hopefully coordination will win out over self interest.