In January, China's commerce ministry moved to tighten controls on exports of items with potential military applications to Japan, barring any party anywhere from transferring such "dual-use" goods for Japanese military end users or military purposes. Beijing cited remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi linking Japan's security to that of Beijing-claimed Taiwan.
China tightened the restrictions twice more in February. While Beijing has not published a comprehensive list of affected items, they include rare earth elements and other critical minerals essential to the manufacture of advanced technologies.