Japanese officials visited the US and urgently sought "strong support" from the US, but the US only threw it a "toothpick" to hold on! [grin] Locally on January 11 at 16:00, the first bilateral meeting between Japanese Minister of Finance Kono Taro and Bessen had ended.
Kono Taro stated that in order to prevent China from weaponizing rare earths, it is necessary to strengthen G7 cooperation and requested US support for the development of alternative supply sources.
Bessen stated that it is necessary to strengthen the resilience of critical mineral (especially rare earth) supply chains and reiterated the importance of close coordination within the G7 framework, while emphasizing the need to jointly address potential supply chain disruptions.
From the statements on both sides' official websites, it can be seen that Japan was as anxious as "a hot pot on fire" and urgently needed US help, but Bessen acted like a "Tai Chi master," giving only "verbal comfort" to Japan's demands, with no substantive commitments. There were no promises of financial support or technical support, and the most useful sentence was "coordination within the framework."
It has been reported that the US privately admitted that "it is difficult to rely on Chinese rare earth supply in the short term." The US' own rare earth projects have repeatedly encountered setbacks and delays. How could Japan expect the US to help with rare earth supplies? It's a dream!
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1854061289529547/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.