The Japan Times65%
In G7 debut, Takaichi puts economic security at heart of Japanese diplomacy 51%
By Kenji Yoshida0%
6/18/2026, 3:48:00 AM
Keywords: G7, Sanae Takaichi, Minerals, Rare Earths, China, United States, Donald Trump, Indo Pacific, Taiwan, China Japan Relations
BS Summary: This article contains 17 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Negativity Bias, and Optimism Bias, with Ambiguity (Equivocation) as the most egregious example at 34% saturation with 156 hits. Analysis detected 792 faulty-reasoning hits from 459 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 51% and a BS Rank of 51% (10,380 of 21,180 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 51.00% of the article peer group.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wrapped up her first Group of Seven summit in Evian, France, on Wednesday, securing support for stronger mineral supply chain resilience while pressing leaders to keep Indo-Pacific security risks in view — two of her key goals at the meeting.
Although some had expected Takaichi to play a role similar to that of her political mentor, late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — bridging divisions between European powers and U.S.
President Donald Trump — her clearest imprint came in the area of critical minerals, where leaders agreed to step up cooperation on supply-chain resilience and stockpiling.
“The G7 expressed united and serious concern over export controls on critical minerals and economic coercion,” Takaichi said at a postsummit news conference.
“Japan is the only G7 country with a stockpiling system for critical minerals for civilian use, and we will spare no effort in sharing our experience and expertise.”
Reflected in the joint statement, Takaichi’s plan reportedly calls for G7 members and like-minded countries to build national stockpiles covering at least 90 days of demand and coordinate with the International Energy Agency to release them jointly in the event of a supply disruption.
Recipients would be limited to companies that commit to shifting procurement away from the supplier responsible for the disruption, while Japan would share expertise from JOGMEC, the state-backed energy and metals security agency, to help other countries build a similar stockpiling system.
Japan’s concern over critical minerals dates back to the 2010 Senkaku Islands incident, when Beijing restricted rare earth exports to Japan after Japanese authorities arrested a Chinese fishing boat captain near the disputed islets, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyu.
Since then, Tokyo has sought to diversify procurement, with JOGMEC playing a key role through financing and investments in alternative suppliers such as Australia’s Lynas.
Though still heavily reliant, China’s share of Japan’s rare earth imports has gradually fallen from about 90% around the time of the 2010 shock to around 60% currently.
While Japan’s efforts to diversify its supply chain are commendable, some experts say China’s structural advantage goes beyond just dominant processing capacity and low prices.
“Unlike Europe, the U.S. and Japan, Beijing faces far fewer constraints when it comes to the environmental fallout from the refining and extraction process,” said Ke Long, a resident fellow at the Tokyo Foundation.
But given that China cannot single-handedly produce and absorb all global demand for critical minerals, he added that “Beijing’s strategy for managing that leverage will help determine where the market moves next.”
By 2030, G7 nations are aiming to reduce their reliance on any single supplier outside the bloc and partner countries for rare earths and...
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100%flagged-word coverageSanae Takaichi
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