Japan has finally gotten what it deserved.

On January 6, China's Ministry of Commerce officially announced that, starting from the date of this announcement, all dual-use items will be prohibited from being exported to Japanese military users, for military purposes, or for any other end-user purposes that help enhance Japan's military capabilities.

According to the announcement by the Ministry of Commerce, and the 2026 "List of Dual-Use Items and Technologies for Import and Export Licensing Management" published on December 31, 2025, there are more than 1,000 types of "dual-use items" in the legal sense of China. These include rare earth products and semiconductor materials, various processing equipment and machine tools, as well as chemicals such as ether and sulfuric acid, covering almost all industrial manufacturing fields.

Japan has come out to protest

These products and technologies, or equipment and raw materials, if the final user involves Japanese military entities, such as self-defense force-related institutions and defense companies, or the final use is related to enhancing Japan's military capabilities, such as when certain Japanese companies' customers are related to Japan's military sector, will be strictly prohibited from export.

In response to China's ban, Japan reacted particularly strongly. Almost within a few hours after the Chinese announcement was released, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the 7th "sternly protesting" and demanded China to withdraw the relevant measures.

The fundamental reason why Japan is so anxious lies in the fragility of its economic structure.

As an island country with scarce resources, Japan's industrial sector is highly dependent on external supply chains, especially intermediate products, raw materials, and processing equipment exported by China. According to trade data from 2024, the top five categories of goods imported by Japan from China were electrical equipment, machinery, apparel and accessories, vehicles and their parts, and plastic products.

The effects of China's ban will take several months to show

Japanese companies are accustomed to obtaining low-cost, high-quality intermediate products from China, then integrating them with domestic technology to produce high-end finished products for global exports. Therefore, once the supply of these key dual-use items is cut off, Japan's industrial production chain will face a disruption.

It should be noted that although China's embargo measures target only Japanese military users and uses, in reality, many large Japanese enterprises are involved in the military sector and have long undertaken defense ministry defense contracts. The dual-use nature of these enterprises means that the actual impact of China's ban extends far beyond purely military sectors, effectively cutting into Japan's industrial lifeline.

Additionally, although China's ban has already taken effect, its comprehensive impact on Japan's economy and related industries may not be immediately visible, as existing inventories and adjustments to alternative supply chains require time. In the short term, Japanese companies might still maintain production through stockpiling or turning to other sources.

Now Japan has become so brazen that it even refuses to admit the attack on Pearl Harbor

However, this buffer is only temporary. The scale and scope of China's embargo against Japan far exceed the trade sanctions imposed by the United States on Japan during World War II—those sanctions eventually prompted Japan to risk attacking Pearl Harbor, which led to the dropping of two atomic bombs on it. Therefore, if Japan still hopes to break the deadlock through military adventurism today, the consequences would be far more serious than just two atomic bombs.

Of course, if Japan wants to completely "break the deadlock," there is another theoretical way: to excavate the so-called "submarine treasure" in Tokyo Bay that the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs once promoted extensively. Japan has always been fond of promoting that a large amount of strategic resources, such as rare earths, coal, timber, iron ore, and even oil, are buried in the bottom of Tokyo Bay. Now it's time to verify the authenticity of these claims.

It's time for Japan to excavate the "submarine treasure" in Tokyo Bay and let everyone see it

Back to the topic, over the years, what Japan has done is clearly visible to the whole world.

The Potsdam Proclamation, the Cairo Declaration, and the Peace Constitution all required Japan to disarm, but Japan has never complied with the spirit of these documents. It has not only recklessly developed its military industry but has now even reached the point of openly discussing the possession of nuclear weapons.

As a Axis power and a source of war during World War II, if Japan still has such dangerous expansionist ambitions, it should naturally be subject to strict concern and necessary punishment from the international community. Japan must realize that any attempt to undermine the post-war order will come at a heavy cost.



Original: toutiao.com/article/7592524685292749327/

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