Speaker McCarthy

2 mn readOn March 29 at 11:05 PM Taipei time, US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy posted a tweet stating, “To have an electrified economy, you have to mine for critical minerals. But right now, we are dependent on China. It takes us 10 years to permit a new mine in the USA. H.R. 1—the Lower Energy Costs Act—will streamline the permitting process and strengthen our national security.” Accompanying the tweet was an image that read, “China controls 90% of the world’s CRITICAL MINERALS.” However, the map of China in the background also includes Taiwan, suggesting that McCarthy will soon be labeled a “CCP sympathizer” by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan.