not really. imo the regulations in the west is way too strict and bascially kidnapped by the hysteria and paranoid of a small group of extremist.

china and soviet union bascially killed off most of the apex predators, like tigers (for soviets, the Caspian tigers), most leopards, bears, crocodiles (yangtze crocodiles). according to the western "ecologists" their eco system should have collapsed and everyone there living in hellscape now. the truth is different.

rare earth mining requires lots of acids. but those acids are organic and will dissolve in the natural environment, and runoff to river and eventually to the ocean, and eventually convert into other materials (they hardly exist in nature in pure form for a reason, coz they react with other mateirals which cause them to cease to exist).

so those acids used in mining, they actually dont do that much harm. but the environmentalists gonna have mental breakdown seeing all those colorful acid pools and miles and miles of barren land of mining and cry out its environmental catostrophy and the media will help them to stir up mass hysteria to shut or limit those mining.

meanwhile china can do it as what it wants and benefit. thats a massive advantage that the west might never catch up in our lifetime simply coz the west is too irrational when it comes to "pollution", even relatively harmless ones.