GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
CHINA AND THE FOREIGN MEDIA
26 OCTOBER 2026. CHINA POST #644
EXTRACTS
1. JAPAN VULNERABLE ON RARE EARTHS
2. DEMOCRACY v GOVERNANCE
3. CHINA CELEBRATES NATIONAL DAY
4. KEVIN RUDD ON CHINA-U.S. RELATIONSHIP
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#1 JAPAN VULNERABLE ON RARE EARTHS
THE FINANCIAL TIMES
“Japan is months from running out of supplies of yttrium, a critical metal, and has asked the US to push China to ease rare earth export controls that threaten severe disruption to the global automotive, defence and chip industries.
Tokyo made the entreaty to the US government and American blue-chip companies, according to people familiar with the matter in Washington and Tokyo.
Washington has urged China in recent months to increase the flow of rare earths, including yttrium — a heat-resistant metal crucial to manufacturing vehicles, jet engines and semiconductors — to the US and its allies. US defence supply chains rely on components made in Japan that contain yttrium.
Unless Beijing changes tack or western allies find substitutes or additional stockpiles, shortages could emerge as early as the end of this year, Japanese government officials and trading house executives said. “We’re in a serious situation to keep supplying downstream industries,” said a Japanese government official.”
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
This goes back to Seoul 2025. That was the moment in time when as between the U.S and China the scales tipped decisively in China’s favour.
Rare Earths matter. Every country’s economy needs Rare Earths. China has Rare Earths – in big numbers (70% of world supplies and 90+% of world processing). The rest of the world struggles for Rare Earths.
China did not want to play its Rare Earth card so soon but Trump’s escalating tariffs on Chinese imports into the U.S. – some as high as 150% – forced China to act. They did. The U.S. backed off and a new world balance of power is now in play.
One day a book will be written showing how the U.S. allowed itself to become so vulnerable, so exposed. It will sell out in minutes. How did a country – whose prized Business Schools introduced SWOT analysis (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats) as the key starting point for any business – completely overlooked its own vulnerability on Rare Earths.
As to Rare Earths and Japan, China strengthened its export controls against Japan in response to Prime Minister Takaichi’s comments last year about the threat to Japan from a conflict over Taiwan. China was angered. And as a consequence, shortages of Yttrium followed. They are now the biggest pain point for Japanese materials groups. The metal is used to coat engines and plasma-etching chambers for chip manufacturing.
Yttrium oxide prices outside China have skyrocketed to $1,150 per kilogramme, a 179-fold increase versus two years ago, compared with $9 per kilogramme in China.
Pandas are important as goodwill messages but Rare Earths are much more important.
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#2 DEMOCRACY V GOVERNANCE
THE UK V CHINA
There are two conversations to be had.
The first – who is more free? A Chinese in China or a Briton in the UK.
And the second – which system provides greater freedom to its citizens, China’s authoritarian system or the UK’s One Man One Vote system?
THE UK
THE UK HAS DEMOCRACY.
Five-year elections; one man one vote; the rule of law; the separation of powers. But politically unstable with 7 Prime Ministers in 10 years, and growing number of small parties
Top Issues Identified by the UK Public;
1. Cost of Living
2. the NHS: Reported as a top issue by about 80% of the population, reflecting strains on healthcare access, waiting lists, and funding.
3. The Economy – regarding national debt, sluggish productivity, and inflation.
4. Immigration and Asylum – ranked as a prominent priority
5. Poverty and Wealth Disparity: Roughly 14.5 million people in the UK live in poverty, including over 4 million children, with deep regional divides in education and health outcomes.
6. Public Finances: Think tanks and financial institutions frequently highlight fiscal pressures, including high borrowing costs and constrained government budgets.
Political Trust: Polling analysis from platforms like Best for Britain and Ipsos Issues Index notes an historic decline in public trust for traditional political parties
Three Main Issues; -Cost of living (86%), NHS (84%), economy (72%).
CHINA
China is not a Western-style liberal democracy; By UK standards It is an authoritarian one-party state ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The official state framework emphasizes
– continuous grassroots consultation,
– administrative feedback loops, and
– local advisory bodies like the CPPCC, distinct from Western multi-party electoral systems.
Official state ideology describes the system as a “whole-process people’s democracy,” which blends local elections, public consultations, and state guidance rather than competitive multi-party voting.
Governance Mechanisms
• Party-State Dual Hierarchy: CCP committees are embedded directly inside every level of government, state-owned enterprises, and private organizations to ensure total alignment.
• Top-Level Design & Local Experiments: Central authorities establish broad policy goals while permitting local regions to test implementation methods before scaling them nationwide.
• “Whole Process People’s Democracy”: The official state framework emphasizing continuous grassroots consultation, administrative feedback loops, and local advisory bodies like the CPPCC, distinct from Western multi-party electoral systems.
• National People’s Congress is the highest organ of state power (3,000 delegates, 5-year terms); exercises legislative, supervisory, and elective functions.
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
The two sides snarl at each other in a state of permanent conflict.
The West says; “We are democratic. The state protects the individual. Our economic system is more fair and more productive.
China says; “The West’s system is broken. Democracies are struggling everywhere. The China system delivers. The people are more free and better off”
Time and history will give its verdict in the years ahead. For the present the big issue will be Who Delivers Best for Its People. Is the West better because it has One Man One Vote or is China better because it focuses on Delivery?
On The Question of Democracy – we in the West have been brought up to believe that the West today has succeeded because of its regular elections and a Media that is free to criticise Government. But that argument is looking faded as the economies struggle to maintain full employment, open debate and popular optimism.
China, in turn, cites three non-China polling companies – Harvard Kennedy School, the Pew Institute and The Edelman Trust Barometer which historically ranks China near or at the top globally for domestic government and institutional trust (frequently reaching 89%–91% in past reports).
For the rest of this Century Good Morning From London predicts that the #1 topic will be Governance in London v Governance in Beijing.
Which system – the West’s or China’s ‘- delivers best for its people. It includes freedom to travel; opportunities to work; domestic stability; calling government to account; improving quality of work; personal freedom; quality of life
The list is lengthy. It comes down to What Works. The Jury is Out. The next 74 years will provide the answer. And China is coming up fast – less freedom, better delivery.
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#3 CHINA CELEBRATES NATIONAL DAY
NIKKEI ASIA
“As China’s weeklong Golden Week holiday drew to a close on Oct. 7, millions of travellers returned home from journeys across the country and trips abroad.
China recorded 2.14 billion passenger trips during the period, averaging 306 million per day, and an increase of 0.6% from last year, according to transport ministry data.
Airlines added flights to Southeast Asian destinations and Europe, according to the aviation administration. The top three foreign destinations were Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul, according to Tongcheng Travel, a booking platform. Singapore, Bali and Ho Chi Minh City also made the top ten, but no Japanese cities.
Trips to Japan have dwindled since the Chinese government, angered by comments Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made about a potential Taiwan crisis, urged citizens in November last year to avoid visiting.
Japanese cities used to be popular with Chinese vacationers. Tongcheng Travel ranked Tokyo third and Osaka eighth at peak times in 2025.
Chinese cities this year were decorated with national flags as people celebrated the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Many spectators at cutting-edge drone and firework displays were dressed in traditional attire.”
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
A prophecy of doom is a warning of a future catastrophe, collapse, or end-of-days scenario. The Anti-China Lobby – the Negatives – are guilty of making annual predictions that the End of Time is approaching in the country of 1.4bn people. China will implode; China will fall apart; and China will collapse. Facts on the ground prove them wrong but the claims persist.
The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating – Wind turbines – road construction – STEM graduates (Science Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) – PhDs – Solar Energy – DeepSeek – 200 million Chinese travellers overseas – new rail track, 800 million people lifted out of poverty. And evidence of the country wide 1 October Day Celebrations in China is ignored.
Two Points – China is not without its problems. It does not hide them. Instead, it confronts them. Every day of the week. Things went wrong in the property sector; there is youth unemployment; and the people do prefer to save rather than to spend and thereby contribute to the drag on the economy. China is far from perfect but there is a determination by Government and the People to do better; to raise living standards and to spread prosperity. But the UK media in particular will distort the reality. Whether it is Racism – images of China’s Fu Manchu – or anti-Communism, the UK media will stress the bad news and overlook the good news. They will look for the negatives and ignore the positives. It is therefore right to show the other side – the celebrations, the overseas travel, the images of overflowing airports.
At the end of the day the Chinese have no illusions. They are on a long journey. Today they are only “moderately prosperous”. Tomorrow they will be “prosperous”. And when is tomorrow? 2049. Another twenty-three years China will have moved up a notch. Day-by-Day. Month-by-Month. Year-by Year.
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#4 KEVIN RUDD ON CHINA-U.S. RELATIONSHIP
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
“Kevin Rudd, president of the Asia Society and a former Australian prime minister, described US-China strategic competition as full-on and multidimensional at a Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics event on Friday.
“There is a full-blown strategic competition under way in every dimension of national political power and influence, militarily, economically, trade and investment and technology, in foreign policy, in
“The conventional wisdom, that I believe is correct, is that the rise of China and its impact on the international order will be the defining international issue for the lifetime of students.
Speaking at an Asia Society event in September, Rudd said Beijing seeks presidential diplomacy to ensure a “minimal number of surprises coming out of the United States between now and the end of next year” as the ruling Communist Party’s 21st Party Congress approaches.
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
Actually, Rudd is off centre. China’s system of government has always been a blend of autocracy and democracy but the West and the Far East tend to miss the long term and go for the short term. It is a surprise that Rudd gets this wrong because he has followed China closely down the years.
At the end of the day Trump is today’s leading representative of the US. Two years ago it was Biden and in another two years it will be a new resident of the White House. China, ever since Roosevelt in the 1930s, has always viewed the President as the Leader of the West. Eras do vary and some things change. Sometimes Pandas will be significant. Other times ping-pong diplomacy peace or, after the 7 May 1999 attack on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, aggressive face-to-face confrontation. The Macro is unchanging. U.S. Imperialism does not change its character. The Micro does change because there is ebb and flow.
For sure today it is “full-blown strategic competition under way in every dimension of national political power and influence, militarily, economically, trade and investment and technology” Seoul in October 2025 changed the balance of scales. Trump and the U.S. had met its match in Xi and China. Things will never be the same again.
Does that mean that China has won – that China is the victor and the U.S. is the loser? No. Emphatically No. The U.S. is the established power. China is the rising power. The U.S, will not concede gracefully with a shake of the hand. The years ahead are dramatic and hostile and confrontational. All out War is still on the Agenda and China will remain vigilant. The Jury is still out. The Future remains uncertain. But the U.S. knows it is in a fight. It may end in Peace. But it may end in War.
GRAHAM PERRY
