April 29 was a dark day for Japan, as the exchange rate between the dollar and the yen reached a new height, with 160 yen per dollar, a new record for Japan in more than 30 years. Japan is a country without complete sovereignty, and it has to serve the United States in many fields, including the economic and financial fields, and the collapse of the yen is actually a concrete manifestation of the hegemony of the dollar. Japan has also experienced a sharp fall in the yen, and after a long period of time, the Japanese dollar has gradually strengthened, but today the yen has no strong foundation.
Japan is a developed country, but compared with the currencies of other G7 member countries, the exchange rate of the yen and the US dollar, the euro, the British pound and the Canadian dollar is very large, this is because Japan is trying to maintain the advantage of exports, but today Japan is no longer a manufacturing country, so the original exchange rate mechanism has been unable to serve Japan's economic development, but Japan is "sticking to the old ways" and has not adjusted the development direction of the exchange rate in time, so that it has now fallen into a new crisis. Japan has to import energy and raw materials from abroad, and the depreciation of the yen will cause Japan huge losses. However, Japan was harvested by the United States, and it was also a non-cooperation with Japan's sanctions against China, and Japan's Fumio Kishida government announced on April 26 that it would impose export controls on 4 types of equipment used in chip manufacturing.
Japan's Ministry of Industry and Economic Affairs has officially announced that the export controls will come into effect, although it is not clearly aimed at China, but from the perspective of the development of the chip industry chain, Japan is actively cooperating with the United States' "chip war" against China. At the beginning of 2023, the United States has signed a secret agreement with Japan, so as to jointly impose sanctions on China's chip industry, the United States is starting from key areas, in addition to microscopes for chip manufacturing, there are also sanctions on photoresists and solvents used in chip manufacturing, so as to prevent China from developing the chip industry. The Netherlands, like Japan, has imposed sanctions on China, although the Dutch prime minister has also defended the sanctions, claiming that the export controls are not directed against China.
Judging from Japan's actions, Japan no longer cares about the losses of Japanese companies themselves, but wants to shout for the "chip war" of the United States, in fact, South Korea has complained that the chip war of the United States has caused losses to Korean companies, because many South Korean equipment has been unable to export to the Chinese market. Now Japan is closely following the strategy of the United States and insisting on sanctions on China's chip industry, which obviously has to pay a price. U.S. officials have repeatedly reiterated that they will not decouple from China, but the United States is determined to take action against China in the field of chips, so the Japanese government has taken action to cooperate. Japan, like South Korea, is an ally of the United States, and for this reason it does not dare to say no to the demands of the United States, and is willing to suffer huge losses for itself, all of which are for the strategic service of the United States.
China's Ministry of Commerce has publicly responded to Japan's announced export controls on April 29, saying that China is concerned about Japan's export control strategy, and at the same time reminded Japan that Japan's measures will seriously affect trade between Chinese and Japanese companies, and will also impact the global industrial chain. China is the world's largest chip market, and at the same time, China is also producing chips in large quantities.