Reuters reports:
Japan plans to dispatch its largest warship on a three-month tour through the South China Sea beginning in May, three sources said, in its biggest show of naval force in the region since World War Two. China claims almost all the disputed waters and its growing military presence has fueled concern in Japan and the West, with the United States holding regular air and naval patrols to ensure freedom of navigation.
The Izumo helicopter carrier, commissioned only two years ago, will make stops in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka before joining the Malabar joint naval exercise with Indian and U.S. naval vessels in the Indian Ocean in July.
President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte said he may visit the warship. The Chinese navy plans to "shadow" foreign military vessels and aircraft. The U.S. is deploying an attack drone to South Korea to respond to recent North Korean missile launches.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 14 2017, @09:29PM
The only reason China's the main exporter for those is that it's currently cheaper to have them do the mining, we have plenty of that stuff ourselves. 'Rare' in 'rare' earth is a misnomer, it doesn't mean that it's rare, just that it's rare as opposed to other kinds of dirt.