Japan's Akazawa Holds Brief Talks With China Counterpart as 4-Month Rare Earth Curbs Bite
Updated
Updated · Reuters · May 23
Japan's Akazawa Holds Brief Talks With China Counterpart as 4-Month Rare Earth Curbs Bite
6 articles · Updated · Reuters · May 23
Ryosei Akazawa said he had only a brief conversation with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao before a Friday dinner at APEC in Suzhou, with no formal bilateral talks held.
Akazawa was the most senior Japanese official to visit China since a November diplomatic row erupted after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a response from Tokyo.
China has since urged its citizens not to travel to Japan and cut off several heavy rare earths and other materials for at least four months, squeezing supplies of inputs used in EVs, weapons and other products.
At the APEC meeting, Akazawa called on exporting nations to rectify arbitrary rare earth export controls without naming China, underscoring how critical-mineral restrictions have become a pressure point in the dispute.
After months of a 'deep freeze,' could a brief ministerial chat start to thaw Japan-China relations?
Can new Western alliances break China's stranglehold on the critical minerals vital for modern technology?