Japan should leverage its alliance with the US to counter China’s threats rather than seeking quick compromises alone that will lead to long-term losses, said a Japanese lawmaker whose entry into China has been banned.
If Beijing signals wielding rare earths restrictions as a weapon, Tokyo should hint that it could join forces with Washington to curb China’s access to semiconductor-making devices over which Japan retains supremacy, Japan Innovation Party lawmaker Hei Seki said on Thursday.
Seki said he sees chances for China to use that card like it did more than a decade ago against Japan, as the two nations verbally spar over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remarks on Taiwan.
Photo:Bloomberg
Many nations now see Beijing’s dominance over the critical minerals as problematic and a full-scale trade war with Japan would worsen China’s economic standing given its fragile trade truce with Washington.
“Japan is smaller in size than China and militarily, they might be superior. But Japan has an advantage China lacks,” Seki said. “Japan has allies. The Japan-US alliance is for a situation like this.”
Chipmaking devices accounted for about 12 percent of Japan’s exports to China last year, the second-biggest market after the US, Japanese government data showed.
Washington has been asking Tokyo to join forces to cripple Beijing’s ability to make advanced semiconductors, which are critical for economic security and defense capabilities.
Takaichi must not retract her remarks as requested by China, Seki said, adding that the remarks made it clearer to China that Japan is ready to help the US preserve Taiwan’s independence.
“When it comes to a Taiwan contingency, I believe it’s actually good that Japan’s prime minister made somewhat bold statements,” he said. “This serves as a form of deterrence against [Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平] and China.”
While China’s rhetoric shows no sign of easing, actual actions it has taken so far fall short of hard brakes on its economic activities with Japan, Seki said, pointing to China giving a travel warning, instead of a complete ban.
It also knows the limits to what it can do against Japanese companies in China, he said.
“What would happen to Japan if China expelled all Japanese companies out of China?” Seki said. “Japanese companies would suffer losses, but the Chinese government couldn’t possibly do that. Why? Because those Japanese companies employ a large number of Chinese people.”
There is no need for Japan to seek compromises in a rush, as China would eventually find a timing to tone down threats, he added.
“Having studied the Chinese Communist Party regime for many years, I understand their habits well,” he said. “They always become arrogant and adopt an intimidating attitude toward those who yield or appear weak. Conversely, they treat strong opponents with politeness. That’s China.”
Japan should not overreact to every single rhetoric from Beijing, but it should consider expelling Chinese Consul General in Osaka Xue Jian (薛劍), Seki said, referring to Xue earlier this month threatening to cut off Takaichi’s head in a now-deleted post on X.
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