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On May 23, the Japanese government announced that it will implement export control measures for semiconductor manufacturing equipment starting in July this year, specifically to strengthen export controls on 23 items of chipmaking equipment. The market was in an uproar as soon as the news came out. The stock prices of many Japanese semiconductor-related companies, including Screen, Advantest and Disco, fell in response. What was Japan's intention in adopting this self-harming policy of export curbs on chipmaking equipment?

In fact, as early as the end of March, Japan already announced the revision of its Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, planning to expand the scope of export control of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura even publicly stated that Japan is "fulfilling its responsibilities as a technological nation." What kind of "responsibility" is this?

British newspaper The Financial Times said that Japan's move is to fulfill the trilateral agreement reached with the United States and the Netherlands on China's semiconductors. A Reuters report pointed out that Japan's move is to cooperate with the chip export control measures implemented by the United States against China and jointly curb China's ability to manufacture chips. Even Japan's domestic media believes that Japan is cooperating with the United States in carrying out its "responsibility" to contain China! Kyodo News reported in February that Japan could not wait to join the U.S. in restricting chip exports to China. Japan knows that it is unable to pose a direct threat to China on its own, so it has chosen to gang up with the United States on China, following the U.S.'s moves in chip exports controls and trying to tighten the chokehold on China's semiconductor industry.

But can Japan's restriction on chipmaking equipment exports bring about the revitalization of its semiconductor industry? Looking back at history, we can find that Japan once led the development of the global semiconductor industry. However, the "U.S.-Japan semiconductor war" at the end of the last century made Japan completely lose its advantages in this field. A large chunk of market share was taken by the United States. Ironically, the country once deeply hurt by the U.S. "lost its memory voluntarily" this time and has chosen to firmly support the U.S.

According to data from the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan, the sales of chip manufacturing equipment produced in Japan in 2021 is 3.443 trillion yen ($24.48 billion), of which exports to China increased by 57 percent compared with the previous year, accounting for about 30 percent of the overall sales, ranking the first among all export target countries and regions. Japan's Sankei Shimbun believes that with the advancement of chip export restrictions on China, sales of chip manufacturing equipment to China will decline by about 50 percent.

In recent years, compared to the slumping Japanese economy, the continuous growth of China's economy has become an important driving force of economic recovery around the world. In the face of reality, instead of trying to adjust economic policies, speed up economic transformation and promote development, Japan is increasingly adopting the wrong policy of allying with the U.S. to "contain" China. At the G7 Hiroshima summit, Japan hyped up the China threat and pushed for the inclusion of multiple accusations regarding China's internal affairs in the joint statement after the meeting. Recently, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that Japan is considering opening a local "NATO liaison office." All these incredible moves revealed that the Japanese right-wing government is willing to serve the U.S. strategy and serve as "cannon fodder" for the U.S. to "contain" China. And they want to realize "national normalization" and "military normalization" by taking advantage of the competition between China and the U.S.

Japan's behavior is a dangerous gamble betting on the American hegemony in the fast-changing world. Historically, Japan's strategic restlessness and desperation have had disastrous results. The lesson is not far away, and now the Japanese government is repeating the mistakes and is destined to lead its own country down a disastrous path.

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