China’s bid to strangle the world’s supply of heavy rare-earth elements was about to hit a wall. Vietnamese entrepreneur Luu Anh Tuan had lined up U.S. backing for a technology that could break Beijing’s chokehold on the critical minerals behind everything from smartphones to missile-guidance systems.

Tuan and his family had fled Vietnam for the U.S. to escape Beijing’s tightening grip over Hanoi, where the Chinese Communist Party exerts a heavy influence on domestic governance.

In July 2023, he signed a technology transfer agreement, seen by Fox News Digital, to bring the heavy rare earth separation technology he was using at his Vietnam-based company, Vietnam Rare Earth (VTRE) to VTRU Corporation, a company registered in Nevada. VTRE had also signed a series of memoranda of understanding (MOU) agreements with Western companies. 

«He had a bad sense of insecurity about being in Vietnam. He was determined to transfer his technology to the US as quickly as possible,» a source familiar with the rare earth industry, granted anonymity to speak without fear of retribution, told Fox News Digital. 

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At the time, the world was entirely dependent on Chinese companies to separate their heavy rare earth metals.

«China has been really working for the better part of over 20 years now on building this dominance,» Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in an interview. 

And while companies like U.S.-based MP Materials and Australia-based Lynas are in the process of developing their own separation technologies, China still controls up to 90% of the rare earths separation and refining capacity and over half of mining output. 

In October 2023, Tuan, then a U.S. permanent resident and green card holder in the process of becoming a citizen, was back in his Hanoi office when Vietnamese authorities raided the building, seizing all laptops and records. Seventeen employees were arrested, according to Tuan’s American business partner, Richard Dunham, and all but one, Do Hanh Huong, Tuan’s sister-in-law and COO of VTRE, have since been released.

The arrest came shortly after President Joe Biden visited Vietnam and signed cooperation agreements on rare earth minerals. 

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In December, China banned rare earth extraction and separation, in what the industry saw as another effort to maintain its monopoly on the market. 

«When China put in these restrictions, it really made countries like the U.S. and Australia realize that they didn’t actually even have the technical know-how to do it themselves,» said Baskaran. 

«The process itself is just very labor-intensive and very toxic,» said Josh Birenbaum, a minerals expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, adding China cornered the market through state subsidies and lax environmental concerns. 

While the U.S. has one major rare earths mine, MP Materials’ Mountain Pass, until this year, the company was exporting those rare earths to China for separation. The trade war and export controls that followed prompted the U.S. to stockpile its rare earths until separation capacity was up to scale at home. 

Tuan was accused of forging a value-added tax receipt while trading rare earths with Thai Duong Group, which operates a mine in the northern Vietnamese province of Yen Bai. 

Xenotime ore  (Getty Images )

VTRE had partnered with Australian mining companies Australian Strategic Materials and Blackstone Minerals Ltd. Tuan and Dunham had also met with officials from the state of Nevada and the Department of Energy to discuss plans to bring the separation technology to the U.S. through VTRE. Both were «enthusiastic» about the proposal, which ultimately led to the signing of the transfer agreement, according to Dunham.

The arrest also came as Vietnam prepared to auction the Dong Pao mine. VTRE, backed by Western partners, was the only qualified bidder, according to Dunham.

This year, Tuan pleaded guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. He’ll spend 16 years in prison with a fine of $10 million, but his advocates say he was «coerced.» Huong was sentenced to six years in prison. 

«We believe these charges to be manipulated, charges that were founded by Vietnamese state actors who have realigned themselves with China,» said Dunham. «He was tortured to obtain a guilty plea.» 

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Fox News Digital could not independently verify this claim. The State Department documents credible reports of arbitrary arrests, torture and inhumane treatment by authorities, affecting both political detainees and others in custody.  Medical neglect and forced confessions are frequently reported.

Tuan’s advocates say the company he was purchasing ore from, Thai Duong, refused to provide invoices at the actual rate VTRE was paying for ore. It only provided invoices that claimed it was selling ore at a lower rate, reducing its taxable income. 

According to Dunham, Thai Duong refused to issue invoices reflecting the actual sale price to VTRE, allegedly to avoid environmental, natural resource and corporate income taxes, obligations that fell on Thai Duong, not Tuan.

Tuan was faced with a choice: accept the lower-rate invoices and make up the tax discrepancies with his own money or allow his state-funded minerals project, and in turn, his business, to collapse, per Dunham. 

Though Tuan was convicted on criminal charges, Dunham said the violation of accounting regulations lacks evidence of criminal intent. 

«Even if he were guilty of an accounting issue, it’s not something that is criminally liable for what they’re trying to do. No place in Vietnam has there ever been an issue with this type of sentencing. It’s totally unheard of. Typically you would pay a fine and that’s it.»

«He is the only individual outside of China that has a fully integrated rare earth company that’s from mining to metallization; in other words, from digging it out of the ground to the manufacturing of magnets.»

China dominates the global rare earths market. (Reuters)

Tuan was also convicted of smuggling rare earth materials, but customs documents show clearance of 63 shipments of heavy rare earth oxide mixtures under tax code 2846, which corresponds to rare earth compounds. The court misclassified the exports under tax code 2530 (raw ore), to falsely claim they were illegal, according to Dunham. 

The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security’s investigation concluded that customs officers who signed the 63 export declarations for VTRE verified Tuan’s compliance.

China’s crackdown since then has only accelerated. Minerals experts have been ordered to surrender their passports to prevent them from sharing any technology outside the country. Beijing has tightened controls on exports of rare earths, prompting major concerns from within the U.S. defense industry. While China allowed them to flow again during trade negotiations with the Trump administration, they remain banned for defense purposes. 

According to Dunham, VTRE has developed the technology to produce heavy rare earth oxides from xenotime, monazite and ion-absorption clay at a purity of 95% through a solvent extraction system. The technology was capable of processing diverse ore types and recycling NdFeB magnets.

Requests for assistance from the U.S. government have not been fruitful, according to Tuan’s advocates. 

Tuan is essentially cut off from his family and lawyers. He’s seen family members around five times since his arrest nearly two years ago. 

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«We are deeply concerned about his physical and mental well-being,» the source said. «He is mentally resilient. He continues to believe the truth will eventually come to light.»

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House, State Department, Chinese Embassy and Vietnamese Embassy for comment. 

FIRST ON FOX – The White House, faced with an ongoing and growing tsunami of murderous attacks by Islamic State-allied groups against Christians in sub-Saharan Africa, is now working closely with the State Department to find ways to stop the killing.

Last week, the White House told Fox News Digital, «The Trump administration condemns in the strongest terms this horrific violence against Christians,» after the U.N. reported 49 Christians were butchered with machetes on July 27 in and around a church in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), while Catholic worshipers were praying for peace. Authorities say the killers were Islamist militants from the Allied Democratic Forces, also known as Islamic State DRC.

In neighboring Nigeria last month, 27 Christians were reported killed by Islamist Fulani tribesmen in the village of Bindi Ta-hoss, where residents are predominantly Christian. Eyewitness Solomon Sunday said, «I advised my family to seek refuge in the church, which seemed the safest place at the time. I lost my wife and second daughter in the attack; they were burned [alive] by Fulani militias.» 

Local youth leader D’Young Mangut, who helped retrieve the bodies, added, «People are being killed like chickens, and nothing is being done.»

«Such grisly proceedings have become commonplace in central Nigeria,» John Eibner, president of Christian human rights organization Christian Solidarity International, told Fox News Digital. «It is part of a longstanding process of violent Islamization, of ethno-religious cleansing. Last Palm Sunday, 50 Christians were similarly slaughtered in nearby Bassa. Over 165 Christians have been killed in the last 4 months in Plateau State (one of Nigeria’s provinces) alone,» he added.

«Massacres of the sort that happen in central Nigeria are also happening with increasing frequency in predominately Christian places like Congo and Mozambique. There is no simple solution.»

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The U.K. division of Open Doors, a global Christian charity which supports and speaks up for Christians persecuted for their faith, told Fox News Digital, «The crisis facing large areas of sub-Saharan Africa is hard to overstate. It is potentially existential for the future peace and stability of several nations in the region, not least Nigeria.»

Caskets of victims killed by Islamists in Bindi, Nigeria. (Christian Solidarity International (CSI))

«Around 150,000 people have been killed in Jihadist violence over the last ten years. Over 16 million Christians have been driven from their homes and their land across the region.»

The Trump administration appears to be preparing for action. This week, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, «The Department of State is working closely with the White House to identify opportunities to further the cause of religious freedom around the world.»

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The spokesperson added, «Religious freedom for all people worldwide is a moral and national security imperative and a U.S. foreign policy priority.  As President Trump has stated, the United States will vigorously promote this freedom.»

Nigeria is among the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian. Recent Open Doors research shows that more Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined. Local bishop Wilfred Anagbe was threatened, and some 20 of his parishioners killed, after he spoke out against the killings to a Congressional Committee in March. 

A photo of members of Nigeria’s Islamic extremist group Boko Haram on Oct. 31, 2014. (AP)

This week, the bishop spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital, declaring that «the attackers form part of the larger Islamic- Jihadists family headed in Nigeria by the likes of Boko Haram, ISIS West Africa and similar groups. Nigeria has had a long history with Islamic fundamentalism. (But) the violence, killing and displacements without consequences suggests a new pattern where the Islamists have resorted to use their control of official government and apparatus to continue this jihad.

«There is a strong tendency by fundamentalist Muslims in Nigeria to turn the whole or part of Nigeria (in)to an Islamic State.»

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«This is what the Nazis did to the Jews,» David Onyillokwu Idah, director of the International Human Rights Commission, told Open Doors, adding, «It’s ethnic cleansing, step by step.»

John Samuel, legal expert for Open Doors, told Fox News Digital that where the Islamist groups are operating, if Christians gather for «a prayer meeting, let’s say, or go to a church, (it) could be a one-way ticket, or something very deadly.»

«If you’re a Christian, you either convert to Islam or die.»

Christian faithful hold signs as they march on the streets of Abuja during a prayer and penance for peace and security in Nigeria in Abuja on March 1, 2020. (Photo by KOLA SULAIMON/AFP via Getty Images)

Samuel gives an example of a Nigerian Christian who was ambushed by Boko Haram fighters. According to his widow, «he was asked to deny his faith and say an Islamic prayer. He refused and he was killed instantly. You are a target. You are a target by the mere fact that you identify with Christ.»

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Across the region, it’s claimed the Islamist attackers want the land belonging to the Christians they attack. Lawyer Jabez Musa fights in court in Nigeria to get this land back. He told Fox News Digital the displaced Christians «want their land restored back to them for their livelihood. The cry is always I have been dispossessed of what belongs to me, my house, the food, foodstuff, the land. As we speak, over 64 communities in Plateau State have been dispossessed and taken over by the Fulani militants.»

«Only Christians are targeted, they’re killed, displaced, and their lands are taken over.»

Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors U.K. and Ireland, told Fox News Digital that «African governments must urgently provide three things: justice – because very few of these perpetrators are ever held to account, and this impunity emboldens them.  Restoration – people want their lives back, an opportunity to rebuild their homes, send their kids to school, have a future together.  And protection – the state must protect them from these attacks.  The security forces need to get out of their barracks and be deployed around the most vulnerable.

Funerals for some 27 Christians who were reportedly killed by Islamist Fulani tribesmen in the village of Bindi Ta-hoss, Nigeria. (Courtesy: Christian Solidarity International (CSI))

«For too long, nobody has been talking about the horrific wholesale slaughter of Christians and moderate Muslims in Africa. The Western world needs to wake up and be outraged,» she said.

One grieving relative told reporters after the massacre in Nigeria’s Bindi Ta-hoss this past month, «We are tired of condolences and statements. What we need is real security, not sympathy.» 

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Fox News Digital reached out to the governments of both Nigeria and the DRC but received no response.

Lawyer Jabez Musa pleaded «I urge the American government, especially President Trump personally … to come to the help of Christians.»

Sin herederos a la vista y con casi 80 años sobre sus espaldas, Lula ya piensa en su reelección en las presidenciales del año próximo en Brasil. No falta mucho, aunque en política es una eternidad.

De ganar las elecciones previstas para el 4 de octubre de 2026, el actual presidente brasileño asumiría su cuarto gobierno con 81 años, y dejaría el poder a los 85.

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El caudillo y fundador del Partido de los Trabajadores (PT) es consciente de eso. Pero también sabe que es el único capaz de aglutinar el voto “antibolsonarista” en un país virtualmente dividido en dos, y mucho más tras el arresto domiciliario de su archirrival y expresidente, Jair Bolsonaro, en una causa por golpismo.

“Para ser candidato tengo que ser muy honesto conmigo: necesito estar 100% de salud. Postularme y que pase lo que pasó con (Joe) Biden, jamás. Cuando hablo que tengo 80 y energía de 30, pueden creerme. Si yo fuera candidato, voy a ser candidato para ganar”, afirmó.

El fantasma Biden está muy cercano en el tiempo. El expresidente demócrata, entonces de 81 años, debió renunciar a su candidatura en plena campaña contra el actual mandatario, Donald Trump, ante sus visibles lagunas mentales y evidente deterioro físico. Pero esa situación aparece como algo muy alejado a la realidad de Lula.

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A Lula le falta un año y cinco meses para completar su tercer ciclo de gobierno. Fue presidente durante dos mandatos consecutivos, entre 2003 y 2011. Nada le impide disputar la reelección.

Hoy, la política brasileña está atravesada por una enorme grieta ideológica. Por un lado Lula y su alianza de izquierda, con socios de centro y conservadores, como su vicepresidente, Gerardo Alckmin. A diferencia de lo que sucede en la Argentina, Lula tiene una estrecha relación con su vice.

En el otro lado de la enorme fisura política, está Bolsonaro y su fiel ejército de seguidores, conformados por el ala más dura de la ultraderecha brasileña, sectores de derecha tradicional y quienes rechazan a Lula.

El expresidente quiere volver al Palacio del Planalto, pero tiene un serio problema por delante: no solo se encuentra bajo arresto domiciliario, sino que además, está inhabilitado hasta 2030. Y corre el riesgo de ser condenado hasta 40 años, por golpismo.

Su alineamiento con Trump, que lleva adelante una inédita presión contra el gobierno de Lula para dejar sin efecto las causas judiciales en su contra, no le está dando resultado.

¿Cuáles son las alternativas reales de poder a Lula en la izquierda brasileña?

Lula no tiene herederos políticos de peso electoral en quien recostar su legado dentro de su propio partido. Tampoco el arrastre suficiente como para impulsar una candidatura, como hizo en 2011 con Dilma Rousseff.

Algunos de los dirigentes con más peso dentro del PT, como Camilo Santana, ministro de Educación y exgobernador de Ceará, no resistirían un balotaje. Tampoco su ministro de Hacienda, Fernando Haddad, derrotado por Bolsonaro en las elecciones de 2018.

Sin Lula, el cuadro más potable del oficialismo para disputar la presidencia en 2026 sería el propio Alckmin. Su vice, considerado un tecnócrata de derecha, ya fue candidato presidencial. De hecho, perdió contra el propio Lula en 2006.

Pero su eventual candidatura representaría un palpable giro hacia el centro de la alianza oficialista, más allá de que desde el PT le reconocen su enorme fidelidad.

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Por eso Lula piensa en postularse.

“El argumento más sólido (que tiene el presidente para buscar la reelección) es la ventaja en las encuestas”, le dijo a TN el analista brasileño Fernando Guarnieri, de la Universidad de San Pablo.

El último sondeo del Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, Políticas y Económicas (Ipesbe, por sus siglas en portugués), al que accedió TN, muestra que en junio la aprobación del gobierno se ubicó en un 45% contra un 51% que desaprueba la gestión. Se trata del mayor índice de respaldo del año.

Un sondeo de Paraná Pesquisas revela que Lula le ganaría en primera vuelta a todos los candidatos que eventualmente reemplazarían a Bolsonaro, con una ventaja de tres a 1puntos sobre su esposa Michelle y sus hijos Eduardo y Flavio, así como frente el actual gobernador de San Pablo Tarcisio Gomes Da Freitas.

Sin embargo, la encuesta afirma que Lula perdería en un balotaje con Tarcisio y el mismo Jair Bolsonaro, hoy impedido de postularse.

“Otro argumento es que el PT no tiene otro liderazgo de peso reconocido por las tendencias y que el partido debe tener una candidatura propia -, afirmó Guarnieri-. Además, la popularidad de Lula no está lo bastante alta para ungir a una nueva Dilma. A no ser por su salud, no parece haber razón para que él no concurra a un nuevo mandato”.

En la vereda de enfrente, el panorama “es difícil de prever”. “La derecha tiene algunos liderazgos de peso en los Estados. Si fuera Tarcisio, por ejemplo, tendrá el apoyo del centrao (esa amalgama de partidos de centro que suele dar gobernabilidad a todos los gobiernos desde el Congreso). Pero lo que importa es el apoyo de Bolsonaro. Para el expresidente sería mejor alguien más próximo, como alguno de sus hijos. El juego para él es más complicado”, concluyó Guarnieri.