On the 12th, Hong Kong media Hong Kong01 introduced an article from Singaporean media Lianhe Zaobao, which analyzed how Japan would counter amidst China going on the offensive with rare earth and other export restrictions.

The article mentioned that China's Ministry of Commerce announced at the end of June that it would add 20 new Japanese companies and organizations to its export control list, stating, "This marks the second time this year that China has imposed export restrictions on Japan. This indicates that the Chinese government is strengthening its tendency to use export restrictions as a geopolitical means of pressure."

Furthermore, it pointed out that while China's export restrictions were originally security measures aimed at preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and military goods, in recent years, as a countermeasure against U.S. export restrictions on semiconductor-related technology to China, it has strengthened export controls on important minerals such as rare earths, gallium, germanium, and graphite, affecting international supply chains.

It also introduced that "China is implementing strict export controls on 12 out of 17 types of rare earth elements, and the scope has expanded not only to mineral resources but also to critical areas in the supply chain." Experts have commented, "China's export controls are shifting from temporary countermeasures to a normalized diplomatic and economic strategy. Especially regarding measures against Japan, the scope and objectives are becoming clearer, such as including defense-related companies as targets."

Regarding China's rare earth export controls on Japan, the article explained that they have been strengthened twice after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks concerning a Taiwan contingency. According to Chinese customs statistics, Japan's rare earth magnet exports in May this year decreased by 34.6% compared to the previous month, reaching the lowest level since May of the previous year. On the other hand, it conveyed an expert's view that Japan, since experiencing the rare earth problem in 2010, has been diversifying its supply sources and has larger stockpiles than the United States.

It also stated that domestically in Japan, technological development to reduce rare earth usage is underway, including the development of electric vehicle (EV) motors primarily composed of iron and the introduction of vehicles with significantly reduced heavy rare earth usage. Additionally, Japan is strengthening resource cooperation with Australia, Vietnam, India, Canada, and other countries, and working to secure mining development and processing capabilities overseas.

On the other hand, it was noted that there are still claims that the impact of China's export restrictions remains significant. While the loss to the Japanese economy from the 2010 rare earth embargo was reportedly equivalent to 0.9% of GDP, the impact this time could be even greater, it stated.

According to the article, Chen Yang, director of the China-based private think tank Haiyi Think Tank Japan Research Center, stated that what Japan needs is not just rare earth ores, but also rare earth separation, refining, and magnetic material processing capabilities, pointing out, "Even if countries like Australia could supply the ore, it would ultimately be difficult to bypass China's supply chain in many processes."

Meanwhile, Mr. Zhuge Sen of the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore, stated that while countries, including Japan, could significantly reduce their dependence on China for light rare earth raw materials, neodymium-praseodymium, and even some magnet production capabilities within the next five years, reducing dependence on downstream areas such as high-purity refining, recycling, and metallization would require at least 5 to 10 years.

Additionally, Xu Tianchen, a senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), stated that regardless of whether China implements export controls or not, countries will continue to build alternative industrial networks, and pointed out that "Considering China's position, there is a possibility that the means of export control will be increasingly utilized. If it is not used now, China will lose the opportunity to use it when other countries achieve technological breakthroughs in the future."