The Philippines may have been unwittingly supplying China with key ingredients for everything from smartphones to missiles, insiders say

When US officials met their Philippine counterparts in Kuala Lumpur this month to discuss critical minerals, few outside industry circles realised the quiet significance of the conversation: a new front in the global contest over resources essential to modern technology and national security.

For years, Manila may have been unwittingly supplying China with the vital ingredients for manufacturing items ranging from smartphones and electric vehicles to missiles, satellites and military aircraft, industry insiders say.

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