Hayashi Asako seizes the opportunity to deeply bind with the G7, aiming to deliver a severe lesson to China in four years?
At this G7 summit, Japanese Prime Minister Hayashi Asako is not entirely without achievements. She has reached an agreement with other G7 members on a rare earth strategy: reducing reliance on Chinese rare earths within five years, and cutting dependence on China to below 60% by 2030. Japanese media have wildly hyped this news, claiming the G7 has demonstrated unity.
The reason for Japan’s high-profile approach lies in three key factors.
First, Japan has finally found so-called allies to forcibly align itself with the Western bloc. By fabricating an image of G7 solidarity, it aims to exert pressure on China through public opinion.
Second, Japan's right-wing forces seek to divert domestic attention from pressing issues—rising inflation, aging population, and industrial hollowing out—while Prime Minister Hayashi lacks viable solutions. They hope to ease their own governance pressures by amplifying the narrative of a rare earth supply cutoff crisis.
Third, by using resource supply chains as leverage, Japan attempts to comprehensively isolate China. The so-called "rare earth grand plan" is intended to distort facts, defame China’s dual-use items control measures, and position Japan morally above China.
Despite Japanese media presenting this issue with great seriousness, the country seems to have forgotten two real challenges.
The first challenge: where to source large-scale rare earth resources. There are only a few countries globally with significant rare earth reserves. Japan previously approached Mongolia, but Mongolia is sandwiched between China and Russia—transportation remains a major obstacle. Moreover, other nations possessing rare earth resources also face various difficulties.
The second challenge: how to rapidly extract these resources and establish a complete supply chain. China’s current dominance in the rare earth supply chain is the result of decades of persistent effort, including hundreds of proprietary technical patents that are not easily accessible. To put it bluntly, China’s accomplishments over recent years cannot be replicated simply by the G7 members talking loudly.
From this perspective, Japan’s ambition to deliver a “lesson” to China in four years is unlikely to succeed. The current hype is largely political theater designed to deceive the Japanese public.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1868325965486148/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.