Australia’s supplying China with a critical mineral vital for hypersonic missiles and its nuclear program

Chinese companies are the largest shareholders in two Australian mines — producing minerals vital for Beijing’s hypersonic missiles and nuclear programs — helping it overcome “severe challenges” to accessing key resources. In a rare admission of its own vulnerability, China says it depends on imports for its supply of zirconium, a little-known critical mineral. Australia is the world’s largest producer and supplies China with 41 per cent of its imports. Not only did Australian regulators allow Beijing-backed companies to become major shareholders in the two Western Australia mines, the federal government even gave one of them a $160 million soft…