Tim Cheung (@TimCheung)

" #China has told companies in its #rareearth industry to give the government #lists of #employees with technical #expertise, aiming to ensure they don’t divulge #tradesecrets to #foreigners...According to people familiar with the queries, China’s Ministry of Commerce in recent weeks asked rare-earth #companies based in China for #personnel lists that include specialist employees’ specific expertise, education, research background and personal information. The goal, the people said, is to develop a formal catalog of Chinese #nationals with rare earth expertise and keep tabs on these employees to make sure they don’t travel abroad and reveal secrets. The lists include those in upstream roles, such as processing rare earths, and those in downstream roles, such as those using the processed minerals to make rare-earth #magnets. The magnets are used in #automobiles, #wind #turbines, #drones and #jet fighters. One of the people said some experts at Chinese companies have been asked to turn in their #passports to their companies or local authorities, to ensure they don’t make any unauthorized #trips. China already requires government #officials and employees of #stateowned companies to turn in travel documents and apply for approval to #travel abroad."https://www.facebook.com/ChinaCreepingAuthoritarianism/posts/pfbid02cPRZkjM7qeJ4yyt44ubm2buK77xqWxtSGYLgMenYoxn4iMi9Z34n4gJwMu26QaFPl