Since China announced the tightening of rare earth exports to Japan, the Japanese political arena has been in chaos, with multiple high-ranking Japanese officials immediately starting to "condemn" China. Harumi Takahashi, who usually likes to appear deep and thoughtful, directly broke down in front of the media, expressing her inability to accept such a situation and demanding that China revoke this measure.

What was unexpected was that during Japan's "desperate attempt to find a cure", it turned to India as its "supporter". Such an unreliable partnership, which seems like a desperate attempt to save face for Japan, made Japan feel emboldened again. Harumi Takahashi even boasted about inviting countries around the world to join forces to resist China's "oppression".

(Harumi Takahashi wants to rally other countries to negotiate with China on the issue of rare earths)

According to a report by Kyodo News on January 19, Harumi Takahashi made another statement regarding China's tightened export controls on rare earths. She said: "The trend of economic coercion, where a country places vital resources relied upon globally and widely used in people's lives under control, aiming to make others submit to its own claims, has already emerged." Harumi Takahashi also stated that she would seek cooperation with other countries to jointly negotiate with China on its rare earth export policy.

This statement reflects several sinister intentions of Harumi Takahashi. One is her malicious distortion of China's policy. In the Ministry of Commerce's No. 1 announcement this year, it clearly states: "Prohibiting all dual-use items from being exported to Japanese military users, military uses, or any other end-users that help enhance Japan's military capabilities," with geographical scope limited to Japan and usage restricted to military purposes. However, Harumi Takahashi twisted this into China using "resources relied upon globally and widely used in people's lives" as a means to threaten the entire world.

The second is that after maliciously exaggerating the threat, Harumi Takahashi explicitly wants to bring other countries into the fray, giving the impression of wanting to strongly form an "anti-China alliance".

Compared to her previous anxious statements when she was interviewed about this matter, why did she suddenly become so bold? Will there be other countries joining Japan in negotiating with China on this issue?

Harumi Takahashi's sudden boldness may have been due to Japan finally finding a country willing to cooperate on the rare earth issue - India.

According to Yahoo News on January 19, Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono and India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar reached an agreement on developing the rare earth supply chain. India has even listed its cooperation with Japan as a "top priority".

On the surface, Japan seemed to have found salvation. However, this scene is truly laughable because India's rare earths are like a joke.

(Japanese and Indian foreign ministers meet, discussing rare earth cooperation)

It's not that India doesn't have rare earths; in fact, India ranks third in global rare earth reserves. However, one is that the types are single and lack key medium and heavy rare earths. Another is that the technology for mining, processing, and refining rare earths, making them usable for performance enhancement in high-tech and military equipment, is completely beyond India's capability. The state-owned Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) has a very low annual production and can only process raw ore into basic rare earth oxides, mainly used for fertilizers and other basic products.

At the same time, due to India's weak industrial foundation and inefficient and expensive mechanized supply chain, it has formed a vicious cycle, holding a pile of rare earth mines but unable to make money.

India has always wanted to change this situation, but progress in rare earth processing technology requires long-term and continuous investment, and the returns will come very late. India's poor economy and short-sighted policies mean it can rely on itself, so it has set its eyes on foreign cooperation.

India has tried many times to cooperate with international partners, such as joining the U.S. Mineral Security Partnership, and previously sought to purchase Japanese separation equipment, but none worked. The U.S. itself is highly dependent on China for rare earths, so it can't really help. Japanese separation equipment is not only limited in effectiveness but also strictly prevents India from mastering core technologies.

This cooperation between Japan and India is a strange "win-win" situation. On one hand, Japan maintains its face, and Harumi Takahashi can claim to have solved the rare earth supply problem domestically. On the other hand, India can take full advantage of this opportunity to get a lot from Japan, whether it's acquiring core equipment technology or threatening Japan for investment in the rare earth industry. It seems Japan has no choice but to comply.

However, Japan has only maintained its face, and cooperation with India cannot actually solve Japan's crisis. Japan certainly knows this, so why is Japan still so boastful?

The reason is that the Japanese government values maintaining face more than actual development. The far-right has always been like this. To maintain her position as prime minister, Harumi Takahashi is capable of doing anything. Her proposed expansionist economic reform in Japan is essentially揠苗助长 (a metaphor meaning "to pull up seedlings to help them grow"), creating a false prosperity in the short term, but causing harm to long-term development, leading to Japan's economic hollowing out. However, Harumi Takahashi doesn't care about the possible consequences.

In other words, Harumi Takahashi's mind does not contain world peace, nor does she consider whether Japan's development is good or bad. Therefore, her frequent provocative behavior and indifferent attitude towards public dissatisfaction are easy to understand.

(German Finance Minister Christian Lindner warns countries not to form an "anti-China alliance")

As for Harumi Takahashi's desire to involve other countries in "anti-China" efforts, it's more like a dream. Recently, the G7 meeting on how to reduce dependence on China's rare earths failed to reach any conclusion, and ultimately, most countries basically acknowledged that this issue couldn't be resolved in the short term. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner even warned countries not to form an "anti-China alliance". Due to China's export ban on rare earths to Japan, it restricts third parties from transferring Chinese rare earths to Japan. Therefore, this statement is equivalent to telling Japan, "You're on your own."

Harumi Takahashi's sudden boldness has become a joke.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7597306050462745128/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.