WASHINGTON:US President Donald Trump has defied international norms and instructed a quick start to deep-sea mining in domestic waters and beyond, sparking an angry warning from Beijing that the move “violates international law.”
Washington wants to lead efforts to scoop up mineral-rich deep-sea nodules and other material from the seabed, sidestepping an international regulatory effort and overriding the concerns of environmentalists.
White House aides say it could pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the American economy, and counter Beijing’s chokehold on key minerals.
But it would also undermine decades of efforts by global regulators at the International Seabed Authority to devise a level playing field and environmental protections for the industry.
The United States never ratified the agreements that empower the ISA’s jurisdiction over seabeds in international waters, and is not a member of the UN-affiliated body.
Instead, the Trump administration is “relying on an obscure 1980 law that empowers the federal government to issue seabed mining permits in international waters,” the New York Times reported.
The ISA did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
Trump’s order gives the secretary of commerce 60 days to “expedite the process for reviewing and issuing seabed mineral exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits in areas beyond national jurisdiction.”
The move sparked anger in Beijing, which holds more exploration licenses than any other country but has held off mining awaiting the ISA’s rules.
“No country should bypass the International Seabed Authority and international law and arbitrarily authorize exploration and development activities,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said in response to a question from AFP.
“The US authorization of exploration and exploitation of mineral resources on its so-called outer continental shelf violates international law and harms the overall interests of the international community.”
Commercial deep-sea mining remains in its infancy, but with a global race underway for rare earth minerals — and the industry dominated by China — Washington appears set on expanding its collection capacity to benefit its defense, advanced manufacturing and energy industries.
Environmental groups warn the process can cause major ecological damage.
“Fast-tracking deep-sea mining is an environmental disaster in the making,” Emily Jeffers, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
“Trump is trying to open one of Earth’s most fragile and least understood ecosystems to reckless industrial exploitation.”
The boosted deep-sea mining policy is aimed in part at “strengthening partnerships with allies and industry to counter China’s growing influence over seabed mineral resources,” the White House said.
The ISA is scrambling to devise a rulebook for deep-sea mining, balancing its economic potential against warnings of irreversible environmental damage.
Last week, the American firm Impossible Metals said it had asked US officials to “commence a leasing process” in a parcel of the Pacific Ocean surrounding far-flung US territory American Samoa.
That would be within US jurisdiction, rather than international waters.
However, Canada-based deep-sea mining frontrunner The Metals Company recently stunned industry observers by abruptly announcing it would seek US approval to mine in international waters.
Its CEO Gerard Barron lauded Trump’s order Thursday.
“By building on decades of domestic innovation and regulatory groundwork, this action reasserts America’s role in securing critical seabed resources and ensures the US is not left behind in a strategic arena increasingly influenced by China,” Barron said in a statement.
Key seabed resources include polymetallic nodules: potato-sized pebbles found at depths of 13,000 to 20,000 feet (4,000 to 6,000 meters) that contain manganese, iron, cobalt, copper and nickel.
A senior administration official told reporters shortly before the signing that the United States could retrieve more than a billion metric tons of material, and the process could create an estimated 100,000 jobs and generate $300 billion in domestic GDP over 10 years.
Trump signs order to ramp up US deep-sea mining
https://arab.news/jky5y
Trump signs order to ramp up US deep-sea mining
- US President Donald Trump has defied international norms and instructed a quick start to deep-sea mining in domestic waters and beyond
‘A den of bandits’: Rwanda closes thousands of evangelical churches
- A 2018 law introduced new rules on health, safety, and financial disclosures, and requires all preachers to have theological training
- Observers say the real reason for the closures comes down to control, noting that even those who complied with the law had been shut down
- President Kagame has described the church as a relic of the colonial period, a chapter of its history with which the country is still grappling
KIGALI: Grace Room Ministries once filled giant stadiums in Rwanda three times a week before the evangelical organization was shut down in May.
It is one of the 10,000 churches reportedly closed by the government for failing to comply with a 2018 law designed to regulate places of worship.
The law introduced new rules on health, safety, and financial disclosures, and requires all preachers to have theological training.
President Paul Kagame has been vocal in his criticisms of the evangelical churches that have sprouted across the small country in Africa’s Great Lakes region.
“If it were up to me I wouldn’t even reopen a single church,” Kagame told a news briefing last month.
“In all the development challenges we are dealing with, the wars... our country’s survival — what is the role of these churches? Are they also providing jobs? Many are just thieving... some churches are just a den of bandits,” he said.
The vast majority of Rwandans are Christian according to a 2024 census, with many now traveling long and costly distances to find places to pray.
Observers say the real reason for the closures comes down to control.
Kagame’s government is saying “there’s no rival in terms of influence,” Louis Gitinywa, a lawyer and political analyst based in Kigali, told AFP.
The ruling party “bristles when an organization or individual gains influence,” he said, a view also expressed to AFP by an anonymous government official.
‘Deceived’
The 2018 law requires churches to submit annual action plans stating how they align with “national values.” All donations must be channelled through registered accounts.
Pastor Sam Rugira, whose two church branches were shut down last year for failing to meet fire safety regulations, said the rules mostly affected new evangelical churches that have “mushroomed” in recent years.
But Kagame has described the church as a relic of the colonial period, a chapter of its history with which the country is still grappling.
“You have been deceived by the colonizers and you let yourself be deceived,” he said in November.
The closure of Grace Room Ministries came as a shock to many across the country.
Pastor Julienne Kabanda, had been drawing massive crowds to the shiny new BK Arena in Kigali when the church’s license was revoked.
The government had cited unauthorized evangelical activities and a failure to submit “annual activity and financial reports.”
AFP was unable to reach Kabanda for comment.
‘Open disdain, disgust’
A church leader in Kigali, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the president’s “open disdain and disgust” for churches “spells tough times ahead.”
“It is unfair that even those that fulfilled all requirements are still closed,” he added.
But some say the clampdown on places of worship is linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which around 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, were slaughtered.
Ismael Buchanan a political science lecturer at the National University of Rwanda, told AFP the church could sometimes act as “a conduit of recruitment” for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Hutu militia formed in exile in DR Congo by those who committed the genocide.
“I agree religion and faith have played a key role in healing Rwandans from the emotional and psychological wounds after the genocide, but it also makes no sense to have a church every two kilometers instead of hospitals and schools,” he said.
Pastor Rugira meanwhile suggested the government is “regulating what it doesn’t understand.”
It should instead work with churches to weed out “bad apples” and help them meet requirements, especially when it comes to the donations they rely on to survive, he said.
