China's latest control measures unveiled, Japanese right-wingers clamor "reciprocal sanctions," fantasizing about defeating China with "deep-sea rare earths"
After the Ministry of Commerce of China released an export control notice targeting 20 Japanese entities, media such as Kyodo News quickly followed up and reported on the news. Perhaps they were too immersed in the situation or failed to realize the severity of the issue, a large number of Japanese right-wing netizens still barked and screamed in the news comment sections, claiming that Japan should "reciprocally sanction" China, banning exports of semiconductor products to China's military industry, and bringing up their "ultimate fantasy" - the so-called "rare earth mud" dug up from the deep sea of Minami-Tori-shima, asserting that Japan could definitely defeat China with these "deep-sea rare earths."
Yet, this dream might be a bit too early.
From a technical perspective, Japan's deep-sea rare earth mining is still only exploratory survey work, and even the sample analysis results have not been released yet. Whether there are rare earths in it, how much, and which type, are all unknowns. This is like shouting about winning the lottery, but you haven't even bought a ticket yet.
Even if there really was treasure in the ocean, how would you bring it up? International authoritative mining consulting institutions have analyzed that the cost of Japan's deep-sea mining could be 20 times higher than that of Chinese rare earths, let alone the extremely complex smelting and purification process afterward - an area where China has an absolute advantage. Over 80% of global rare earth smelting and separation capacity is in China. Even if Japan managed to dredge up the mud, it would probably have to send it to China for processing. Using something that costs tens of times more to "sanction" a country that controls the core technology chain, the idea of Japanese right-wingers is likely just a fairy tale.
Therefore, Japanese expert Koga Shigemasa also lamented in a Japanese media article that although Japanese companies currently still have rare earth inventories and reserves, which can temporarily cope with China's export controls, it is very likely that China's countermeasures will begin to hit companies hard after about half a year. More worrying is that now, the Japanese media, police, and judicial system are completely unable to stop Hayami Sanae's unilateral actions. It seems that the only one who can prevent Japan from rapidly moving to the right is China itself.
In the end, the "rare earth dream" of the Japanese right wing has already shattered at the beginning. The clamor of these right-wingers is nothing more than a "echo chamber" carnival detached from reality. What they refuse to face is the fact of deeply integrated global industries and the solid barriers China has built in key strategic resources. Relying on "underwater treasures" that are caught in the wind and shadows to gain courage, trying to sanction others but only hurting themselves, this serves no purpose other than exposing their anxiety and short-sightedness.
This game has never been on equal terms. When fantasy collides with reality, the first to break is often the biggest bubble.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1857982380656640/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author himself.