A Chinese-backed militia, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), is guarding newly opened rare-earth mines in Myanmar’s eastern Shan state, according to four people familiar with the operations and satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters. The sites, located between the towns of Mong Hsat and Mong Yun, employ around 100 workers who are excavating hillsides and trucking ore roughly 200 km to the Chinese border. Analysts say the deposits are the first sizeable rare-earth facilities in Myanmar outside the traditional mining belt in northern Kachin state. Beijing processes almost all of the world’s heavy rare earths but depends on Myanmar for raw materials such as dysprosium and terbium. Chinese customs data show Myanmar supplied nearly half of China’s heavy rare-earth imports in the first four months of 2025, even after inbound shipments of rare-earth oxides and metals fell to 12,944 t in January-May—about half the level a year earlier. Supply was disrupted late last year when the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) seized much of the Kachin mining region and moved to capture the strategic town of Bhamo, 100 km from China’s border. Reuters reports that Chinese officials issued an ultimatum to the KIA this spring—drop the offensive or lose access to Chinese buyers—underscoring how Beijing is leveraging its market power over critical minerals to shore up Myanmar’s junta and protect supply routes. With Washington maintaining a 145% tariff on Chinese goods, Beijing’s control of rare-earth exports has become a key bargaining chip in the wider trade dispute. Consultants at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence warn that a prolonged shutdown of Myanmar ore could tip the heavy rare-earth market into deficit by year-end, pushing prices higher for manufacturers of electric-vehicle motors, wind turbines and medical devices. The emergence of UWSA-protected mines highlights both China’s determination to diversify its sources and the geopolitical fragility of a supply chain critical to the global clean-energy transition.