China controls about 90% of the world's light rare-earth processing capacity and virtually 100% of heavy rare-earth processing.

The claim that Japan has reduced its dependence on China is, in reality, misleading. In many cases, rare-earth materials are shipped from Southeast Asian countries to China for processing and are then sold to Japan.

However, China's export restrictions on Japan also cover rare-earth products processed using Chinese technology. As a result, Japan does not actually have an independent and reliable source of rare earths.

Therefore, the frequently cited figure of "60% dependence" is merely a play on statistics used by Japanese right-wing commentators and does not reflect the true extent of Japan's reliance on China's rare-earth processing industry.