Japan voices strong concern over Chinese military and rare earth moves

Japan’s top diplomat used a meeting with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of a regional summit in Malaysia on Thursday to lay out a laundry list of concerns with Beijing — including dangerous intercepts by its military and its export controls on crucial rare earth elements.

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya held talks with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-related gatherings in Kuala Lumpur to voice Tokyo’s “strong concerns” about the flurry of security and economic issues, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Highlighting Tokyo’s rising security concerns, the 45-minute talks came just ahead of an announcement by Japan’s Defense Ministry of what it said were two “unusual approaches” by Chinese fighter jets near Air Self-Defense Force surveillance aircraft that “risked accidental collisions” over the East China Sea on Wednesday and Thursday.

At the meeting, Iwaya pressed Wang over last month’s territorial airspace violation by a China Coast Guard helicopter around the Japanese-controlled, Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea as well as the ramped-up activities of its two operational aircraft carrier activities in the Western Pacific.

The foreign minister also pointed to the deteriorating security situation in the East and South China Seas, while highlighting the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, saying that large-scale military exercises around Taiwan are “incompatible with this” — an apparent criticism of China’s increasingly common drills around the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its own and has vowed to unify with the mainland.

Iwaya also said he had “strongly urged” Wang to expedite the approval process for export licenses of rare earths and magnets, saying the controls were having a “severe” impact on Japanese firms.

Japanese imports of the elements, which are essential for making a number of advanced products, have reportedly fallen to the lowest level in five years following Beijing’s imposition of trade restrictions in response to U.S. tariffs.

According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Wang assured Iwaya that China can meet the normal rare earth demands of Japanese companies “as long as the relevant regulations are observed and the necessary procedures are followed.”

The detention of Japanese nationals in China also featured in the talks, with Iwaya calling for their early release and describing the issue as “one of the biggest factors impeding people-to-people exchanges and the improvement of national sentiment” between the neighboring countries.

Japan’s top diplomat is one of dozens of foreign ministers, both from Southeast Asia and the region’s top partners, who have convened in Kuala Lumpur for two-days of gatherings that end Friday.

Besides speaking with Wang on Thursday, Iwaya also attended a Japan-ASEAN meeting in which he highlighted Southeast Asia’s growing economic and security role at a time of escalating geopolitical tensions.

“The international community is at a historic turning point, with regional and international situations becoming increasingly severe and uncertain,” Iwaya said.

“ASEAN is the linchpin in realizing a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ and the world's growth center,” he added. “Its role is becoming increasingly important for peace and prosperity throughout the region.”