China tightens Japanese trade restrictions as spat worsens
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Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has suggested Japan may react militarily to a Chinese attack on Taiwan.
PHOTO: EPA
BEIJING – China imposed export restrictions on 40 Japanese companies and entities on Feb 24, citing national security concerns, as Beijing escalated a months-long row that has seen Chinese tourism to Japan plummet.
The spat between Asia’s top two economies was sparked by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily
The measures announced on Feb 24 cover exports of “dual-use” items – which can have civilian and military uses – to 20 Japanese entities, including five subsidiaries of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Japan’s space agency.
The commerce ministry added a further 20 Japanese entities, including automaker Subaru, to a “watch list” requiring stricter reviews of exported items that could be used for military purposes.
“The above measures are aimed at curbing Japan’s ‘remilitarisation’ and nuclear ambitions and are completely legitimate, reasonable and lawful,” a commerce ministry statement said.
A Japanese trade official told AFP Tokyo would “take appropriate measures” after analysing the impact of the new export curbs.
The Mainichi Shimbun daily reported that Japan had lodged a protest.
Ms Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan, which China views as its territory and has not ruled out taking by force, have enraged Beijing.
The most visible consequence is a sharp drop in Chinese visitors to Japan – 61 per cent in January – after Beijing warned its citizens against going there
In December, J-15 jets from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar on Japanese aircraft in international waters near Okinawa, according to Japan.
China has reportedly suspended imports of Japanese seafood.
Japan’s last two pandas were returned to China in January, leaving Japan without any of the bears for the first time in 50 years.
In January, China announced tightened controls on exports to Japan for items with potential military uses, fuelling worries Beijing may choke supplies of vital rare-earth minerals, some of which are on China’s list of “dual-use” goods.
Shares tumble
The latest move singles out dozens of Japanese industrial heavyweights including shipbuilding and aerospace firms.
Shares in Kawasaki Heavy Industries sank almost 5 per cent in Tokyo, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shed close to 4 per cent and IHI tumbled nearly 7 per cent.
Several of the firms listed are indeed active in the defence industry, manufacturing kit including ships, fighter jets and missiles for the Japanese military.
Japan has been shedding its strict pacifist stance, moving to obtain “counterstrike” capabilities and ease rules on exporting lethal defence equipment.
Ms Takaichi’s government in December approved a record defence budget worth nine trillion yen (S$73.2 billion) for the coming fiscal year to expand its military capabilities.
“China is intensifying its attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, while also expanding and stepping up its military activities in the areas surrounding our country,” Ms Takaichi told Parliament on Feb 20.
Japanese firms dealing with China were already struggling with delays in getting approvals, said Professor Emeritus Noriyuki Kawamura of Japan-China relations at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies.
“With today’s announcement, we can expect the process will be made even more stringent. I believe this will be a huge blow to companies involved,” the don told AFP. AFP
