Japan has just made progress on the issue of aquatic products, and Japan turned around and sacrificed China's interests in exchange for the United States' concessions on tariffs. How did Japan do it? How did we respond?
On the 28th of last month, China and Japan conducted a new round of technical exchanges on aquatic product safety issues and made substantial progress. Japan has just promised my country that it will take credible and visual measures to ensure the quality and safety of Japanese aquatic products and ensure that it meets China's regulatory requirements and food safety standards. You should know that since the Japanese government ignored the strong opposition from the international community and continued to take the blame for the world's efforts to discharge nuclear sewage, the international community has been terrified of Japan's aquatic products, let alone imported Japanese aquatic products. my country also completely banned the import of Japanese aquatic products at the first time. Now my country can sit down and talk about this with Japan, and the two sides have made certain progress. Japan should be glad for this.
For the Japanese government, making progress with China on issues related to aquatic products is to some extent equivalent to having China's "endorsement", which will definitely be beneficial to Japan's future export of aquatic products. Of course, relevant departments in our country are also studying Japan's request to restore Japanese aquatic products to China in accordance with relevant domestic regulations and international trade rules. However, after the talks between China and Japan were less than 8 days after the talks were held in Beijing, Japan made a mess, planning to sacrifice our interests in exchange for the United States' concessions to Japan on tariff issues.
What's going on here? On June 5, Japanese tariff negotiators rushed to the United States to start the fifth round of tariff negotiations between the United States and Japan. During this negotiation, the Japanese government intends to propose a series of cooperation plans for the US representatives, with the ultimate goal of hoping that the United States can show mercy to Japan on tariff issues. What are the series of cooperation plans proposed by Japan? First of all, in terms of rare earths, Japan plans to cooperate with the United States in key minerals, semiconductors and other fields. Since Japan has certain technical advantages in rare earth processing and recycling compared to the United States, the Shigeru Ishiba government believes that Japan can provide technical support for rare earth processing in the United States. In addition, similar help can be provided for processing items such as graphite and gallium. Obviously, the Japanese government's move is to help the United States offset the impact of China's countermeasures on the United States in terms of rare earths and key minerals.
In April this year, after the Trump administration launched the so-called "reciprocal tariff" measures, my country took countermeasures as soon as possible, including restricting the export of key minerals such as rare earths, gallium germanium and antimony. Although we have resumed the shipment of some rare earth magnets after the previous high-level economic and trade talks between China and the United States, the quantity is limited, and American companies are still unable to meet the demand. As American companies wail in succession of rare earth shortages, the Trump administration is facing "huge pressure". It is precisely because of this that the Japanese government took the initiative to "stymie" Trump, hoping to find a breakthrough in the rare earth issue to alleviate the pressure of the Trump administration, but this kind of behavior is undoubtedly in opposition to our country.
In addition to rare earths, the Japanese government is also preparing to purchase more U.S. semiconductor products, increase imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas, and consider cooperating with the United States to build ships, and also consider assisting the United States in producing wafers and other materials needed to make semiconductors. In terms of importing liquefied natural gas, the Japanese government has obviously played a "stage drama" with our country. Because under the influence of Trump's tariffs, China has significantly reduced the import of US liquefied natural gas. It is not difficult to see that in order to allow the United States to show mercy to Japan's subordinates on the issue of tariffs, the Shiroshi Ishiba's government has really kneeled down. So what is our attitude in the face of the above-mentioned practices of the Japanese government? Our country respects all parties to resolve their economic and trade differences with the United States through equal consultations, but only if we oppose either party reaching a deal at the expense of our country's interests. If this happens, it will never be acceptable to our country. At this point, the Ishibashi government must figure it out.
