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Japan unveils export control plans for chip equipment

AFP . Tokyo
01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 | Update: 31 Mar 2023 22:43:40
Japan unveils export control plans for chip equipment

Japan on Friday unveiled planned export controls on 23 items used to make semiconductors, following US pressure for countries to restrict China’s access to the technology.

The move was immediately slammed by Beijing, which warned against measures that “politicise, instrumentalise and weaponise” trade.

It comes as Tokyo confirmed its top diplomat will visit Beijing this weekend, the first Japanese foreign minister to make the trip in more than three years.

As the world’s second and third-largest economies, China and Japan are key trading partners, but diplomatic ties have been strained in recent years, with Tokyo wary of Beijing’s growing military and economic power.

The two are also divided by their approach to the Ukraine conflict, with Tokyo backing Kyiv, and China seeking closer ties with Russia.

Friday’s export announcement came after the Netherlands implemented similar restrictions this month, citing “international and national security”.

Western officials, particularly in Washington, have repeatedly raised alarm over the provision of core components in the manufacturing of semiconductors to increasingly adversarial trading partners.

And while the Netherlands did not cite China specifically in announcing its restrictions, Beijing lashed out at the move.

Japan too declined to characterise the rules as targeting any one country, with trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura saying they were intended to “prevent the military diversion of technologies”.

Japan “intends to play a responsible role in the international community” as a country with advanced memory-chip technology, he added.

Still, Washington has been clear that it wants to see allies join it in limiting Chinese access to the technology.

And in Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning criticised Tokyo’s decision.

“To politicise, instrumentalise and weaponise trade and technology issues is artificially destabilising the global production and supply chain,” she told reporters.

 

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