Peru farmed out the exploration and development of their lithium deposits to China. It has gone on all over the world.
They worked hard to corner the market on rare earth deposits and now we know why. Always has been about manipulating the US in case we got uppity.
China is playing a long term game to undermine the US and the west. They are planning out decades, or a hundred years from now to be the dominant power in the world (not necessarily expansionary, but in control). They are still bitter about the opium wars, so no surprise they a happy to ship fentanyl by the ton to the US. We win this trade war now or end up dependent on China in the future. China doesn’t even have that strong a position, but have been quietly capitalizing on the weakness and self loathing of the west.