Trump urges Xi Jinping to lift export restrictions on Japan — newspaper

HONG KONG, October 8. /TASS/. During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington in September, US President Donald Trump urged him to lift export restrictions on Japan, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

According to sources, at last month's meeting in Washington, the US leader "raised Japan’s grievances over Chinese export restrictions - including on rare earths - that have squeezed Japanese industries."

The sources also noted that Trump "framed the Chinese measures as a threat to American industries reliant on Japanese suppliers." In this regard, he stated "that they were an indirect violation of the US-China trade truce reached in Busan last October," the newspaper noted.

Nevertheless, according to the sources, the Chinese leader showed little interest in Trump’s proposals. He said that Beijing’s dispute with Tokyo should be viewed separately from US-China relations and should not affect them.

China had previously announced the introduction of export control measures targeting Japanese entities involved in bolstering Tokyo’s military capabilities. Chinese exporters are prohibited from supplying dual-use goods, including rare earth metals and other critical minerals, to these entities. In addition, companies and individuals outside China are prohibited from transferring dual-use goods of Chinese origin.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was in the US on his first state visit in 11 years on September 23-25. In May, Trump visited China at the invitation of the Chinese leader.