ASSESSMENTS

Will Japan Sustain Its Economic Restrictions on China?

Aug 4, 2023 | 17:34 GMT

The Tokyo Skytree (right) and Mount Fuji (back left) are seen from the I-Link Town observatory in Ichikawa city, Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, Japan, on July 2, 2023.
The Tokyo Skytree (right) and Mount Fuji (back left) are seen from the I-Link Town observatory in Ichikawa city, Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, Japan, on July 2, 2023.

(PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)

Japan's participation in U.S.-led economic restrictions on China will likely continue, improving the efficacy of these restrictions and fueling Beijing's commitment to economic coercion as a tool of foreign policy. Despite its military alliance and close diplomatic partnership with the United States, Japan has tended to differentiate its economic tools of foreign engagement from Washington's, mainly due to Japan's trade dependencies and restrained approach toward strategic confrontation post-World War II. But this has changed since Tokyo's implementation of chip export restrictions on China, announced in March and implemented in July. This decision was partly due to trade realities, given Japan's semiconductor sector and advanced industry at large are highly dependent on U.S. chip designs. But it was also informed by China's growing economic coercion tactics and expanding military presence in Japan's near seas, as well as China's rapid military modernization, which is partially supported by high-tech imports from Japan. Beyond...

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