China tells India-Japan: cooperation must not target Beijing
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- China's foreign ministry said July 3 that cooperation between India and Japan "should not target or harm the interests of third parties, let alone serve as a pretext for forming exclusive cliques," urging "understanding and trust."
- Indian PM Narendra Modi and Japan's Sanae Takaichi met in New Delhi on July 2 and agreed to strengthen supply chain resilience in strategic sectors — critical minerals, semiconductors, and quantum technologies — that feed EVs, smartphones, jet engines, and guided missiles.
- China's commerce ministry added 20 Japanese entities to an export blacklist earlier this week on grounds they had boosted Tokyo's military capabilities.
- Japan called the blacklist move "unacceptable and deeply regrettable" and demanded its reversal.
- Takaichi warned that Japan and India face shared challenges including "weaponisation of the economy and non-market policies and practices."
- Beijing-Tokyo relations have soured since Takaichi suggested in November that a potential future attack on Taiwan could warrant Japanese military involvement, prompting China to restrict rare earth flows to Japan.
Why it matters: Beijing is simultaneously squeezing Tokyo with blacklists and rare earth restrictions while publicly cautioning New Delhi against deeper alignment with Japan — a two-front pushback aimed at the US-aligned supply chain partnerships both capitals are racing to build in critical minerals and chips.
