‘Quad' nations announce critical minerals initiative amid China concerns
In a joint statement released after a summit hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Tuesday, the four Indo-Pacific countries announced the launching of the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, which they called 'an ambitious expansion' of the partnership that will 'strengthen economic security and collective resilience by collaborating to secure and diversify critical minerals supply chains.'
Rubio said the plans would allow 'not just access to the raw material but also access to the ability to process and refine it to usable material.'
'It's critical for all technologies and for all industries across the board,' he said. 'So having a diverse and reliable global supply chain of these is just one example of many that we can focus on and build upon and achieve some real progress on.'
According to a fact sheet outlining this and other measures from the meeting, the new critical minerals tie-up aims to strengthen cooperation on 'securing and diversifying reliable supply chains, and electronic waste (e-waste) critical minerals recovery and re-processing.' Quad members are also planning to coordinate with private sector partners 'to facilitate increased investments.'
Quad nations share concerns over China's virtual monopoly on a number of key minerals, including rare earths crucial for electric vehicles, drones and semiconductors, as well as for weapons such as fighter jets and missiles.
According to the International Energy Agency, China is estimated to account for about 62% of global rare earth production and 92% of their processing.
Highlighting the Quad's concerns, Beijing recently sought to use restrictions on the minerals as leverage in the U.S.-China trade war, a lesson the Asian behemoth also foisted upon Tokyo in 2010 following a maritime clash near the Japanese-controlled, Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands.
While there were few other details on the new initiative, the four countries made it clear during the meeting that one goal was to reduce their dependence on Beijing.
'We are deeply concerned about the abrupt constriction and future reliability of key supply chains, specifically for critical minerals.This includes the use of non-market policies and practices for critical minerals, certain derivative products, and mineral processing technology,' top Quad diplomats said in a joint statement carefully crafted not to directly mention China.
'Reliance on any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production exposes our industries to economic coercion, price manipulation, and supply chain disruptions, which further harms our economic and national security,' it added.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya speaks during a meeting of top diplomats from "the Quad," as Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (left), Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (second left) and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stand together at the start of talks at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday. |
REUTERS
In welcoming his Quad counterparts, Rubio touted the grouping as a 'very important partnership,' but urged more 'concrete actions' on key issues.
This, however, could prove to be a challenge.
All three U.S. partners in the Quad — including allies Japan and Australia — are grappling with how best to respond to President Donald Trump's onerous tariff campaign. Those trade moves, as well as Trump's perceived lack of focus on the Indo-Pacific region, have unnerved Quad leaders.
The Trump administration has also triggered unease in Tokyo and Canberra with its demands that both countries ramp up defense spending. Washington has also raised eyebrows about its regional commitment by announcing a review of its AUKUS security partnership with Australia and Britain.
Trump has singled out competition with China as a key focus of his administration, but, in the first six months of his presidency, domestic rows, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and rising trade tensions have consumed much of its attention.
Asked about Washington's stance on the Indo-Pacific, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said the U.S. is 'unwavering' in its commitment to the region, pointing to Rubio's move to hold a first meeting of the Quad foreign affairs chiefs just an hour after being sworn into office in January.
'By holding this meeting again in person ... we were able to demonstrate to the international community the strength and importance of the Quad,' Iwaya said, adding that the meeting 'laid the groundwork for the success of this year's Quad leaders' summit.'
The meeting did see the U.S. stand by long-held positions on a number of regional concerns — at least on paper.
In their joint statement, the four countries reiterated boilerplate language, voicing "serious concerns regarding dangerous and provocative actions" in the South and East China seas that they said "threaten peace and stability in the region." They also reiterated a 'steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific' and 'defending the rule of law, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,' while pledging to 'strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion.'
In a win for Japan, the four also condemned North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons program, reaffirming their commitment to the 'complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula' and cooperation on 'the immediate resolution' of the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo.
A Quad leaders' summit is scheduled to be held later this year in India, while Australia will host the grouping's next meeting of top diplomats in 2026.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
an hour ago
- Japan Times
China's housing crisis is worse than it seems
China's economy today bears an unsettling resemblance to Japan's in the 1990s, when the collapse of a housing bubble led to prolonged stagnation. But Japan's 'lost decades' were not the inevitable result of irreversible trends; they reflected policy blunders, rooted in a flawed understanding of the challenges the economy faced. Will Chinese policymakers make the same mistakes? Japan's housing bubble was preceded by sharply rising ratios of home prices to annual income, with Tokyo's surging from eight in 1985 to 18 in 1990. This trend was driven by a number of factors, including Japan's land-tax policy, financial deregulation and poor coordination of fiscal and monetary policy. But demand from first-time homebuyers — aged 39-43, on average — also made a substantial contribution. Because homeowners felt wealthier, they consumed more. This drove up the prices of goods, services and stocks, leading to more jobs and less unemployment. But demand for new housing soon began to fall, and demographic shifts were a key factor. In 1991, as the share of Japan's population aged 65 and older reached 13%, the number of first-time homebuyers began to decline. Property values plummeted, the stock market collapsed and Japan fell into a deflationary trap, characterized by falling fertility and rising unemployment. A misdiagnosis of the problem made matters much worse: What was actually a chronic demographic disease was treated as an acute illness. Policymakers believed that Japan was grappling with yen appreciation as a result of the 1985 Plaza Accord, under which the world's major economies agreed to devalue the dollar. So, to stem the currency's rise, they printed money, lowered interest rates, increased the government deficit and engaged in quantitative easing. These policies, together with the rebound in the number of new homebuyers that began in 2001, caused home prices to start rising again — and exacerbated the underlying disease. As starting a family became more expensive, young people delayed marriage and had fewer children. The government tried to boost birth rates with interventions like increased child allowances and improved child care services, but it achieved only limited success: The fertility rate rose from 1.26 births per woman in 2005 to a mere 1.45 a decade later. At that point, then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set the goal of lifting the fertility rate to 1.8. But the relevant measures — which sought, for example, to make it easier for women to return to work after giving birth — could not offset the effects of the accommodative monetary policies that were viewed as vital to combat deflation and stimulate economic growth. Home prices continued to soar, marriages declined further and births plummeted. Last year, Japan's fertility rate amounted to just 1.15 births per woman. In the past, Japan welcomed low interest rates and a weak yen, because its economy was highly dependent on exports. But the aging and shrinking of its labor force have generated upward pressure on wages, fueling domestic inflation, weakening manufacturing and transforming Japan from a surplus country into a deficit country, thereby making it vulnerable to imported inflation. So, Japan has escaped its deflationary trap only to become ensnared in a long-term inflationary trap, which, by reducing purchasing power and parenting capacity, will reduce fertility further. By fueling a demographic collapse, Japan's approach to ending its 'lost decades' has set the stage for 'lost centuries.' This should serve as a cautionary tale for China, which is confronting real-estate and demographic crises of its own. In recent decades, rapid urbanization, policy-induced artificial land scarcity, the dependence of local governments on land sales for revenue and heady expectations of future growth caused real-estate prices to soar. Strong demand from first-time homebuyers also helped: Since young Chinese typically have no siblings, owing to decades of fertility restrictions, they tend to purchase their first home about 11 years earlier than their Japanese counterparts. But the number of Chinese urban dwellers aged 28 to 32 peaked in 2019 — and the real-estate bubble burst shortly thereafter. Now, the real-estate sector — which, at its 2020-2021 peak, contributed 25% of total gross domestic product and 38% of government revenue — is blighted by weak demand, falling construction and severe overcapacity. Declining prices have decimated household wealth, with losses equivalent to China's annual economic output. This has undermined consumption, employment, borrowing and investment. The crisis that is brewing in China is more severe than the one Japan faced. For starters, China's housing bubble is much larger. For example, residential investment, as a share of GDP, was about 1.5 times higher in China in 2020 than in Japan in 1990. Property accounted for about 70% of Chinese households' total assets in 2020, compared to around 50% in Japan in 1990. China's price-to-income ratio today is more than twice that of Japan in 1990. Moreover, China's fertility rate is lower. Whereas Japan experienced a second surge of first-time homebuyers a decade after the first, China can look forward to no such thing. The share of the population over the age of 65 is increasing much faster in China than it did in Japan: It took Japan 28 years to get where China will get between now and 2040. During that period (1997-2025), Japanese GDP growth averaged just 0.6% annually. Finally, China faces much greater deflationary and unemployment pressures than Japan did. Chinese household consumption accounted for only 38% of GDP in 2020, compared to 50% in Japan in 1990. But perhaps the most ominous portent is that China's government continues to tout a potential growth rate of 5%, with some prominent figures suggesting that it could achieve rates as high as 8%. To get there, policymakers are pursuing measures with high short-term returns — such as expanding the supply of affordable housing and carrying out quantitative easing — while all but ignoring the economy's weak fundamentals. As Hegel famously put it, 'The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.' Yi Fuxian, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spearheaded the movement against China's one-child policy and is the author of "Big Country with an Empty Nest" (China Development Press, 2013), which went from being banned in China to ranking first in China Publishing Today's 100 Best Books of 2013 in China. ©Project Syndicate, 2025
Japan Times
an hour ago
- Japan Times
Locker-to-hotel luggage delivery service expanding in Japan
As the nation's tourism boom continues, a delivery service that transports traveler's luggage from train station lockers to hotels is expanding in Japan. The service allows users to leave their luggage in lockers and have their items delivered the same day to the hotels where they are staying. Last year, West Japan Railway and Osaka Metro launched the service in Osaka Prefecture, which has been attracting many visitors due to the World Expo. East Japan Railway and Tokyo Metro are increasing the number of stations in Tokyo where the service is available. Tourists bringing large suitcases onto trains and buses have sometimes caused problems. The expansion of the locker-to-hotel delivery service is expected to ease congestion on public transportation. To use the delivery service, the luggage must be placed in a specific locker. Fees vary depending on the size of the luggage and location, ranging from around ¥1,500 to ¥3,500. In March last year, JR West launched the service with lockers in Shin-Osaka Station and Universal-City Station, the closest station to Universal Studios Japan. In Osaka, the service is currently available at seven stations. The monthly average number of users in March-May this year was up roughly threefold compared with the period between April last year to February this year. A JR West official said that the service is thriving due in part to inbound demand. Spacer, a Tokyo-based company that manufactures and operates lockers for the service, said that the firm launched the business in Osaka by collaborating with railway companies and others in anticipation of train congestion after the kickoff of the Osaka Expo. "The service has gradually spread," said Daisuke Tokunaga, president of Spacer. Osaka Metro has also teamed up with Spacer to provide the service since December last year. Tokyo Metro, which launched the service at Oshiage Station in May, plans to boost the number stations where the service is available to around 20 in the capital. JR East Smart Logistics Co. entered the business in September last year. It has lockers for the service at 15 stations in Tokyo, including Tokyo and Shinjuku stations. The firm also set up the lockers at four stations belonging to Keihan Electric Railway in Kansai in April and at Kyoto Station in June in collaboration with Central Japan Railway. "We are still in the phase of gaining recognition (for the service,) but usage is increasing gradually," said an official of JR East Smart Logistics.
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste
This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. Plucking the resonant strings of a tonkori — a broad, sword-shaped instrument that's been played by the Indigenous Ainu people for generations — Oki Kano, a Japanese musician of Ainu descent transformed a club in Kyoto into a vibrant tapestry of sound, mixing together rock, Ainu folk and dub music as part of a tour earlier this spring. Refusing to be labeled an activist, Kano has woven his rebellious spirit and a nod to Indigenous rights into his music, which moved anti-nuclear activists following the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Perhaps most notably, he made a speech at a United Nations meeting later that year that clued some people into the issue of using Indigenous land for nuclear plants and waste storage. Nuclear energy and waste are 'a poison,' Kano says, that don't fit into the philosophy of Ainu people, the Indigenous group which inhabited Hokkaido before it was annexed in 1869 by imperial Japan. These days, Indigenous land rights have added another layer to the division of opinions in Suttsu and Kamoenai, two wind-blown fishing communities in the prefecture, over whether to host a permanent underground repository for Japan's nuclear waste. Residents of the two municipalities, with fewer than 4,000 people combined, have expressed conflicting views on the prospect after their respective mayors volunteered for a feasibility study on the prospect in a bid to secure all-important subsidies. 'An Ainu problem' Kano's U.N. speech regarding Hokkaido and Japan's nuclear energy inspired American scholar ann-elise lewallen, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, specializing in modern Japan studies and Indigenous and environment rights, to start a yearslong research project into how a potential nuclear waste dumping ground in ancestral Ainu land might violate their rights. Although there are no current Ainu communities in these two villages, the professor told The Japan Times during her research trip in Hokkaido that any energy decisions in the prefecture are 'an Ainu problem' because of land rights issues. The professor decapitalizes her name as a gesture toward resisting hierarchy. Oki Kano, a musician of Ainu descent, plays the tonkori during a concert in Tokyo in April. | Chermaine Lee Vocal opponents like Kano aside, Ainu people have not raised the issue of nuclear waste en masse, with many more focused on salmon fishing rights. Still, lewallen says their consent is essential under United Nations principles to protect Indigenous rights. Without it, Japan is carrying out what she calls 'energy colonialism.' In 2007, Japan was among the 143 countries that voted in favor of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. The declaration states that governments shall 'take effective measures' to 'ensure that no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take place in the lands or territories of Indigenous people without their free, prior and informed consent.' But the declaration is nonbinding and Japanese law does not currently recognize the Ainu peoples' rights to Hokkaido's land, an issue that is currently a focal point in a high-profile court case over salmon fishing rights. It was only in March when the absence of Ainu consent on the nuclear waste study was mentioned for the first time during a meeting held by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO) with Suttsu residents about the site, anti-nuclear activist and Suttsu resident Kazuyuki Tutiya said. Nobuyuki Kawashima, spokesperson for the nuclear waste authority NUMO, said the organization would be open to address Ainu people's concerns if raised, but stopped short of promising to obtain consent. The Hokkaido government's Ainu Policy Division said while currently there's no Ainu-specific measures on nuclear energy or waste, it stands with the prefecture's opposition to dumping nuclear waste on the island. The Ainu were nearly the sole inhabitants of Hokkaido prior to Japan's annexation but number less than 20,000 now. Like many places in Hokkaido, the names Suttsu and Kamoenai come from the Ainu language, according to Hiroshi Maruyama, director of the Sapporo-based Centre for Environmental and Minority Policy Studies. 'They feel closer to the land than Japanese settlers,' he said. Still, reaction to the idea of hosting a permanent nuclear waste storage site has been mixed. Fumio Kimura, an Ainu activist in Hokkaido, said that 'any nuclear waste on our land is horrible and our right to the land shouldn't be neglected.' 'Japanese people robbed our land, so why can't we make our voice heard?' he asked. Ainu activist Fumio Kimura stands in front of photos of his ancestors at his home in Biratori, Hokkaido, in April. | Chermaine Lee But Kazuaki Kaizawa, secretary-general of the government-funded Ainu Association of Hokkaido has a different view. He said that, as Hokkaido has been part of Japan for over a hundred years, land rights are no longer feasible. While storing nuclear waste is against Ainu philosophy, Kaizawa said that can't be fully applied in a world that is post-industrialization. 'The downside of any energy source is part of modernization. It's not only an issue Ainu are facing, but the whole of Japan and humanity.' Nuclear ambitions Nuclear power once held a crucial position in resource-poor Japan's energy mix, with nuclear power seen as a clean alternative to imports of fossil fuels and a way to ensure energy independence. After the 2011 meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl, all of Japan's nuclear power stations were shut down while new safety standards were drawn up. Well over a decade on, only 14 of its 54 reactors have been restarted. Suttsu's large-scale wind farm was one of the first of its kind in Japan. | Chermaine Lee But as memories of Fukushima fade for some and global energy prices skyrocket, support for nuclear is again growing in Japan. In 2014, polls suggested 16% of Japanese people wanted an immediate phase-out of nuclear power but in 2024 that figure was just 5%. With this in mind, earlier this year Japan announced a contentious plan to boost nuclear energy in its mix from its current level of 8.5% to 20% by 2040, back up to its pre-Fukushima levels, as the country strives to realize its net-zero goal by 2050. Waste dumping ground Waste has always been an issue for nuclear power. When used up, the uranium rods that produce nuclear energy need to be disposed of. The rods are highly radioactive and hot, so they are usually buried — permanently — deep underground. This waste is currently being stored at an interim facility in Aomori Prefecture — despite some local opposition. This facility can only house the waste for 50 years and, despite less reliance on nuclear energy after the Fukushima disaster, 80% of the storage space was filled as of 2023. There had been a plan to reprocess the waste to recycle the energy, but the opening of the plant that would process the waste has faced delays and research took a hit after 2011, rendering the future of nuclear waste murky. Jacopo Buongiorno, professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that, although storing waste is 'actually pretty straightforward,' it is also often highly controversial around the world. He added that current technology can prevent leakages of high-level waste after they go underground, as long as the assessment for a site is done right. Takeshi Kuramochi, a climate policy researcher at the NewClimate Institute, said the waste issue is a 'showstopper' for nuclear development and that, if Japan fails to meet its nuclear targets, it will likely resort to fossil fuels to fill the gap. To convince local governments to volunteer to store it under their land, the Japanese government offered ¥2 billion ($14 million) to any municipality that consented to literature surveys, which include a deep study of past earthquake records. If the municipality is deemed to be a suitable site for storage, a further ¥7 billion will be paid out for entering the four-year second stage of the site selection process. The last stage, which lasts for 14 years, will see a more detailed assessment with test tunnels and mock facilities, but the subsidy amount has yet to be determined. Divided villages On visits to both villages in May, the nuclear waste issue was at the top of peoples' minds, although opinions on it differed sharply. Dotted with worn-down houses along a wavy coastline, the streets of Kamoenai were nearly deserted. At the tourist information center where she works, bespectacled Taeko Toritani said that 'nuclear waste isn't a big deal, but it has to be safe.' Besides, she added, 'It's set in stone already so no point in opposing.' Tazunori Sato, a silver-haired sushi chef, said the subsidy for the first stage helped with repairs of the fishing pier. Living near the Tomari nuclear plant for years has made villages accustomed to staying near nuclear facilities, so most people aren't too concerned, he added. But an hour's drive away in Suttsu, where one of the first wind farms in Japan was built, opinions were more polarized. Electrical store owner Noriyuki Tana noted that the money helps the village pay for resources like a dormitory for nursing workers and a school. Asked about Ainu land rights in Hokkaido and their consent of the site, he disputed the Indigenous people's ownership of the land and said they have no right to chime in on the villages' decisions because they are all Japanese. But Nobuka Miki, co-chair of a group fighting against nuclear waste and a mother to a teenage daughter, is worried that an underground disposal site would harm future generations and the reputation of the village's seafood industry. The harbor in Suttsu, where the fishing industry is a top employer. | Chermaine Lee Her view echoes that of Shaun Burnie, a nuclear specialist with Greenpeace East Asia. Burnie said nuclear waste containers would not be able to remain shut for tens of thousands of years — the amount of time the radioactivity in high-level waste needs to become neutralized. He added that any leakages or contamination of groundwater can lead to exposure to humans. Suttsu's nuclear fate may well be decided at the ballot box through November's mayoral elections. The current pro-waste mayor, who declined to be interviewed, is likely to be challenged by anti-waste 41-year-old Shingo Ogushi. Ogushi came to Suttsu in his early 30s to study the local cherry trout, but in 2020, in order to challenge the mayor's decision to volunteer for the site study, he quit his government job and eventually became a district counselor. He is concerned that a pier might have to be built to transport nuclear waste to the village, which could disturb the marine ecosystem and the fishing industry. NUMO has said that marine transportation is preferable if Suttsu is chosen for a nuclear waste facility. Ogushi added that Ainu people's rights to Hokkaido should be respected despite no known population of them in Suttsu. Shingo Ogushi, a former fish researcher in Suttsu who intends to run in November's mayoral election, has taken a stance against the village hosting nuclear waste. | Chermaine Lee A possible pathway for the Ainu people to participate in the nuclear waste site discussion, according to Morihiro Ichikawa, a Hokkaido-based lawyer focusing on nuclear waste and Ainu rights, is for the Ainu people who claim rights to Suttsu and Kamoenai to form a group and collectively decide on whether they agree to host the nuclear waste or not. 'If the Ainu group is reorganized, any development cannot take place without prior informed and free consent' under the 2007 U.N. declaration, Ichikawa said. Pro-nuclear voices argue that more needs to be done to win public support for nuclear energy and nuclear waste, while critics argue the technology should be dropped — at least in earthquake-prone Japan. Takatoshi Imada is a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology who has published research on the public opinion of the nuclear waste system. He said that, to avoid the division seen in Suttsu and Kamoenai, an organization outside of government should select around 20 sites and engage their communities in 'deliberative dialogue' to win their support for waste storage. But Kuramochi said that finding a nuclear waste storage site far away from people will be next to impossible in Japan and that nuclear energy should not be relied on as legal battles, local opposition and safety inspections will slow down its deployment. 'There's a huge risk of spending so much money on nuclear and nothing coming out of it at the end,' he said, adding that 'if you are betting on nuclear, that means they are not committing fully to a modernized grid network that can accommodate a large amount of renewables' and that 'delays the whole transition of the entire electricity system.' On the other side of the argument are proponents who see flaws in relying exclusively on renewables as nations scramble to decarbonize. Nuclear power can provide around-the-clock clean power that solar and wind — which are reliant on mother nature — simply cannot, Buongiorno argued. Essentially, nuclear power enables a clean renewables-based electric grid, he said. Kawashima from NUMO, agreed, saying that nuclear power 'will lead to both ensuring a stable supply and decarbonization.' But the biggest challenge, he said, is to gain the understanding of the public. Translator Yang Zhao contributed to this report. This report was co-published with Climate Home News
