Australia Orders Chinese Investors to Sell Rare Earth Stakes

Australia’s government has ordered the biggest shareholders in rare earths firm Northern Minerals Ltd. to sell their stakes, the second such intervention in two years as Canberra seeks to protect the company from China-linked investors on national security grounds.

Six shareholders in the A$229 million ($163 million) firm must sell their stakes within two weeks from Monday, according to a statement from the Treasury. Five of them are registered in China or Hong Kong, according to the statement, and one in the British Virgin Islands.