News China imposes export curbs on 20 Japanese firms over ‘remilitarisation’

China's latest measures apply to units of major Japanese industrial groups, including the shipbuilding and aero-engine divisions of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The rules cut the named companies off from seven rare earth elements and related materials on China's dual-use control list. They also block access to other critical minerals subject to export controls. Exports of dysprosium, yttrium and samarium are barred. These elements are used in small amounts but are essential in cars, aircraft, weapons systems and consumer electronics.

It is unclear how quickly supply strains could emerge. Japanese manufacturers typically hold stockpiles of rare earths. As of December, the most recent month with available trade data, China was still shipping large volumes to Japan. China's export control list covers about 1,100 dual-use items and technologies. Manufacturers must obtain a licence to ship them abroad, regardless of the end user.

The restrictions come at a tense geopolitical moment in Asia. Ms. Takaichi, an outspoken critic of China, has promised to raise Japan's military spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product this spring. Japan believes that it must modernize its forces to keep up with China's rising military clout in the region. China has denounced Japan's defense buildup. In appealing to Western nations, Chinese officials have invoked Japan's aggression during World War II, saying that it must be contained. Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a researcher at the Asia Center in Paris, said China's restrictions were aimed at showing that Beijing would not back down. Chinese officials are working to put pressure on Ms. Takaichi, who recently won a sweeping mandate from voters for her hard-line agenda, ahead of her visit next month to Washington to meet with President Trump, he said. "China is making a big fuss over the militarization of Japan, which is nothing new or unusual," he said. "Takaichi is just increasing some of the expenditures to make the Japanese Self-Defense Forces more credible."

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Mr Cabestan said that Chinese officials were also appealing to a domestic audience. Targeting Japan's defence industry is an easy way to fan nationalism, he said, and can help "glue everyone together around the Communist Party and the leadership." Beijing has, in recent months, restricted Japanese seafood imports, discouraged tourism to Japan and cancelled mainland performances by Japanese artists.