State Legitimacy and Government Crime: The China-Japan Rare Earth Element Case

• In Event: Comparative Analyses of Corporate Corruption and State Crime

Abstract

On September 2010, China suddenly suspended rare earth exports to Japan following yet another dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands. This action thrust China into the regional and global spotlight because it looked like a blatant abuse of international trading agreements. Because rare earth elements are essential to the high-tech Japanese economy, reducing these resources significantly starved Japan of input elements and hurt its economy. We assert that the WTO-defying reaction from the Chinese government emanated from the need to rebuff Japan and thus maintain domestic legitimacy even though such behavior would put China at risk of being sanctioned by the WTO. Research on state crime and political accounts – elements missing in discussions on this issue thus far – are used to demonstrate that the data from both sides may corroborate this explanation.

Authors

• Adam Kavon Ghazi-Tehrani, University of Alabama

• Henry Pontell, John Jay College of Criminal Justice