Trade Restrictions & Wrath Against Pacific Neighbors That Oppose China’s Threats

In 2010, China initiated previous trade restrictions, Rare-earths have grown in importance in a variety of supply ⁠chains; according to Reuters, China’s latest restrictions might cause more damage to Japan’s economy than China’s 2010 efforts to intimidate Japan.

Corporate notices about critical minerals are signaling trouble ahead for Japanese industries that depend on Chinese rare-earth products. Japan’s pain, however, may not be commensurate with CCP frustration towards Japan’s leadership in the developing coalition of nations prepared to stand with Taiwan, the Philippines and other U.S. allies.

China reported no exports to Japan of terbium or dysprosium oxide from November through May and minuscule shipments of yttrium oxide since December, cutting off supplies critical to making powerful magnets. Tokyo is working with Australia, the U.S. and other nations to develop alternatives and also has products on which the Chinese economy depends. Japan is investing alongside the U.S. and other allies to secure supplies of ⁠rare-earths and other strategic minerals. Australia and the Philippines are two nations in which such resources have been identified. But developing infrastructure for mining and processing rare-earths will take many years.

Takaichi signed a framework with U.S. President Donald Trump in October to stockpile critical minerals and rare-earths. Mining of deep-sea deposits remains in the distant future.

The Group of Seven nations has agreed to do more to coordinate stockpiles, and Japan has rare-earth recycling projects in progress.

“I assume that a year of export restrictions will create big problems and we’re four to five months into that. Obviously, the government wants to keep the issue under wraps so as not to cause panic and give China the early win.”

Yuriy Humber, CEO of Tokyo-based Yuri Group, a consultancy.

China’s economy is hurting. Japan and the U.S. have not even begun to feel the pain. Nevertheless, the global economy is decoupling and the pressure will be on Europe and other industrial nations to restrict trade with China. China will ratchet up its sanctions and continue provoking low-level confrontations such as regular law enforcement patrols East of Taiwan. And China has violated territorial rights within the Exclusive Economic Zones of various sovereign nations. Testing ICBM missiles within Japanese airspace is serious enough to challenge Japan’s national security without provoking a full scale war. Claiming islands in the South China Sea and the Philippines as Chinese territory creates a sense of normalcy to China’s expansive ambitions.

China’s newest claim is that the Philippine Island of Batanes belongs to China. China has experts claiming that Batanes belongs to China

Batanes is an island close to Taiwan—and therefore strategically located for launching missiles in defense of Taiwan. Although a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is anticipated to expand into the Philippines, there is no basis in history or international law for the claim that Batanes has historically belonged to Taiwan; nor is there any recognition from the international community that China has any claim to Batanes.

🇵🇭 Reality Check:
Batanes has been an integral part of the Philippines for centuries. The Ivatan people are Filipino—not subjects of Beijing. No treaty, map, or internationally recognized legal instrument grants China sovereignty over Batanes.

China already lost its sweeping maritime claims against the Philippines. The 2016 South China Sea Arbitration tribunal unanimously rejected the legal basis for Chinese claims in the South China Sea. Inventing new claims over Batanes exposes the desperation behind propaganda allegedly spewed by CCP apparatchiks in China’s academic community.