Andrea Malji, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, examines the strategic role of critical minerals in the Indo-Pacific and their use as tools of geopolitical leverage. Malji highlights how rare earth elements and their derivatives are essential for advanced technologies, with the Indo-Pacific serving as the hub for processing and transport. China’s dominance in refining capacity and control over key maritime chokepoints has enabled it to use mineral policy as a form of statecraft, influencing global supply chains and state behavior.