Who Lost The Cobalt ???

Here are two competing narratives about how Congo's cobalt wound up in the hands of China:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/21/world/us-china-energy.html

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/hunter-biden-corruption-cobalt-electric/2021/11/20/id/1045522/

Something smells rotten here. Considering that the US has been involved in the Congo at least since Ike green-lighted the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, it makes no sense to claim we just let things slip through our hands. Are we THAT inept?

It's far easier to believe the "Joe Biden" crime family sold us out for their own enrichment. Have we at last found the true "Manchurian Candidate"?

What do YOU think?

Update - 11/22/2021

Here is addition discussion:

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/hunter-bidens-private-equity-firm-facilitated-38-billion-chinese-purchase-american-owned

Was the big guy behind this? I would guess he has more leverage than Hunter.

Update - 11/24/2021

Now Hunter and the big guy appear to be doing other deals with the Chinese:

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/11/23/exclusive-laptop-from-hell-documents-show-hunter-biden-using-family-leverage-in-prospective-deal-to-sell-louisiana-natural-gas-to-chinese-firm/

As I recall, Jimmy Carter's brother was castigated for relatively puny deals. Why then is Hunter being given a free pass on HUGE deals and apparent acts of depravity? This is NOT right.

Update - 11/25/2021

And yet more discussion, this by Jonathan Turley:

https://jonathanturley.org/2021/11/24/what-elephant-the-media-again-buries-a-hunter-biden-scandal-on-foreign-deals-during-the-biden-vice-presidency/

Willful blindness, at the very least. We have descended into the depths of corruption, and whether we ignore it or not this will have consequences.

Update - 11/30/2021

Here is an update which completely overturns the above assessments:

https://thegrayzone.com/2021/11/30/africom-corporations-dr-congo-climate-china/

I have no problem believing the US would gladly blame China for everything bad Uncle Sam is actually doing. And apparently that's what may be going on.

Remember the 60s "missile gap" and other such nonsense? I do. The empire ALWAYS lies about everything, and US citizens are the most gullible believers of those lies, sometimes including even me.