High City was confronted by a legislator on the rare earth issue
On February 25, according to "ABEMA TIMES", today's House of Representatives plenary session held representative questioning. The representative of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Tanabe Masahiro, asked about the rare earth issue.
He asked: "Regarding rare earths, it is estimated that if China stops supplying, it may cause an economic loss of 2.6 trillion yen within one year. How does the government deal with the impact on the economy and people's lives caused by the suspension of supply?"
High City replied: "I know such an estimate. In the case of a rare earth supply interruption, it may cause an economic loss of about 2.6 trillion yen within one year." She continued: "The government will work with like-minded countries to promote the diversification of supply sources, achieving a resilient supply chain that does not rely on specific countries."
Tanabe Masahiro continued asking: "During the election period, the Prime Minister mentioned the deep-sea resources around the Iwo Jima Islands and said, 'Neither this generation nor the next will face a rare earth problem.' The rare earth issue started in 2010, when under the Democratic Party government, the R&D funds for stable rare earth procurement included about 100 billion yen for development, and I have high expectations for this."
Tanabe also asked the Prime Minister what the basis was for the statement that "there will be no trouble in either this generation or the next." Sato, the deputy chief cabinet secretary, stated: "We do not comment on the statements made by High City as the president of the Liberal Democratic Party."
Tanabe continued: "Please clearly state whether the Prime Minister's statement 'there will be no more troubles' is a political expression as the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, or a government consensus as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet." "In the absence of clarity on whether it is the position of the Liberal Democratic Party or the government, disseminating information related to strategic materials for national economic security may mislead domestic industries and the international community. I would like to ask you about the unified view of the Cabinet, the practical goals of commercializing the rare earth resources of Iwo Jima Island, and when you expect to achieve this goal."
High City responded: "As Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Sato answered at the press conference, during the House of Representatives election, I made the judgment based on the Tokyo University research indicating large reserves. It is very important to reduce the cost of collecting rare earth mud and establish a complete process for extracting rare earths from rare earth mud. Therefore, starting from the next fiscal year, we plan to test a series of production processes for rare earth mud at Iwo Jima Island again, dehydrate and separate the rare earth mud, then purify it domestically, and comprehensively assess the economic feasibility of producing rare earths from Iwo Jima Island. Based on the test results next year, we will consider the possibility of actual application." At this point, the assembly hall echoed with shouts: "Is it feasible?"
Japanese Prime Minister Nomination Election
Original: toutiao.com/article/1858083779779723/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself