How Chinas chokehold on US medicine puts American lives in danger

China’s playing hardball, and it’s not just about tariffs and the global economy: Our lives could be on the line.Soon after President Donald Trump announced his first round of tariffs on Chinese goods this month, China hit back by totally suspending its exports of rare-earth minerals and magnets, a key strategic monopoly.Those materials are essential to manufacture automobiles and electric vehicles, as well as America’s fighter jets, drones, robots — basically the next generation of war-fighting weaponry. China’s move puts a stranglehold on these industries, and threatens our national defense.Its next logical step is to cut off our medical supplies.China has a death grip on America’s generic-drug market, as well as on basic medical equipment that every hospital and doctor’s office relies on.And Beijing has already threatened to weaponize this control to throw our hospitals into chaos, put us on our deathbeds and watch us suffer.Five years ago, soon after the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, the state-run Xinhua media agency warned that China could retaliate against Trump’s US travel restrictions by banning the export of all medical products.“The United States will fall into the hell of a new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic,” the outlet proclaimed.When your enemy issues a threat like that, believe it.Unlike the ongoing tit-for-tat dance between the US and its friendly trading partners over tariff levels, China’s halt of minerals exports is an act of raw economic warfare.China is blocking the ability of the US to get essential goods at any price. Today it’s rare-earth minerals.Tomorrow, it could be medicines and medical supplies.China is the sole manufacturer of 100 of our most commonly used medications — including many that keep American patients alive, like antibiotics and blood thinners. It’s also our largest supplier of nitrate gloves, masks, syringes and other medical equipment essential to perform surgeries and other procedures....