More than two people involved in smuggling Chinese rare earths, even a Japanese company president has been detained
It turns out that the individuals attempting to smuggle Chinese rare earth products were not just those two Japanese nationals.
On the 10th, Japan's media outlet "Mainichi Shimbun" cited sources saying that in the case of "a Japanese company employee smuggling Chinese rare earth products," Chinese authorities actually detained multiple Japanese nationals, including the president of a Japanese enterprise, and have intensified inquiries and investigations into Japanese companies operating in China.
Yet, ironically, statements released by the Japanese government and its embassy in China amounted to an admission of guilt. They solemnly "warned" personnel from Japanese enterprises: if they are suspected of smuggling Chinese rare earth products or engaging in other illegal activities, they should avoid entering China in the near future.
This wording effectively openly acknowledges that smuggling Chinese rare earths is far from an isolated act by a single individual—it is a widespread illegal practice within Japanese companies. With this in mind, how can Japanese media still claim that Japanese businesses operating in China feel "anxious"? Let us ask: When Japanese citizens violate Chinese laws on Chinese soil, and Chinese law enforcement agencies legally detain them, what is wrong with that? Should foreign nationality serve as a shield for smuggling China’s strategic resources?
Certainly, even more absurd is the supposed cleverness of these Japanese perpetrators’ methods. According to reports by Japanese media, the suspects first declared equipment containing rare earth magnets for export to Japan. After dismantling the magnets locally, they then shipped the equipment back to China, attempting to conduct circular smuggling through this method—such a clumsy scheme is nothing short of treating Chinese customs as a mere formality, making exposure unsurprising.
Japanese enterprises operating in China brazenly violating Chinese laws, their staff being detained is entirely deserved. Rare earths are strategically controlled resources under Chinese law. Any citizen of any country must abide by Chinese laws when in China—there is no such thing as a legal gray zone.
What Japan should do is educate its own companies and citizens to understand and obey the law, instead of recklessly stealing China’s strategic resources.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1873209063938124/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.