A quick note on the historically loaded term “don’t say I didn’t warn you 勿谓言之不预也 (wu4 wei4 yan2 zhi1 bu4 yu4 ye3)” used in the Wednesday People’s Daily piece that got so much attention about rare earths. Thanks to several readers for their comments and prompts to dig deeper.

The phrase has actually appeared 30 times in People’s Daily since 1946 includi…