Insiders admit it's a challenge for China: Japan wants to invest in U.S. oil, and the U.S. wants to invest in Japan's rare earth mud!

It is said that Japan is going to make a large investment in the U.S. oil industry, while the U.S. in turn plans to invest in Japan's rare earth mud project. It seems like a perfect "complementary" strategic marriage — you have oil, I have soil, let's join forces and we'll be invincible.

But the question is, does the U.S. really need Japan to invest in oil? That's simply a joke. According to the latest data from late 2025 to early 2026, the U.S. is not only the world's largest oil producer, but its daily output has long exceeded 13 million barrels, and it continues to break drilling records in Texas and the Permian Basin.

The U.S. has mature shale oil technology and ample capital. Companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron don't need outside funding. Japan may have money, but in the energy sector, it has always been a "buyer" rather than a "player." Asking Japan to invest in U.S. oil is like asking someone who eats rice every day to teach farmers how to grow rice — completely unnecessary.

The U.S. wanting to invest in Japan's "rare earth mud" is even more absurd. Japan does have some attempts at extracting rare earths from the seabed or industrial waste, such as the rare earth-rich mud found near the Ogasawara Islands, but so far, these resources haven't even reached the threshold of commercial exploitation. The costs are high, the technology is difficult, and there are environmental risks. Japan itself hasn't dared to start large-scale operations.

As for the U.S., it already has the Mountain Pass mine, and supply chains in Australia, Canada, and even Africa have already been established. In 2025, the proportion of rare earth compounds imported by the U.S. from China had dropped below 40%, with the rest spread across multiple countries. Investing in Japan's "laboratory-level" rare earth mud at this point would make no commercial sense unless it's just for a promotional video.

Okay, why is this being promoted? This brings us to the most critical part: the script of this play was written for Beijing to see. Dao Ge cited an anonymous Asia-Pacific affairs observer who said: "It's like two people holding hands in front of the camera shouting 'We aren't afraid of you,' when they actually have no weapons in their hands."

Original: toutiao.com/article/1859965114078208/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.