Chinese media Global Times reported on the 4th that 'Japan has begun dismantling air conditioners to search for rare earths.' The article, citing Japanese reports, pointed out that 'Japan has started its first initiative to recover rare earths from used household air conditioners.' It explained, 'This recycling project is led by Mitsubishi Electric. The company removes and disassembles compressors from collected outdoor air conditioner units to extract the rare earth magnets contained within. This is the first time such an attempt has been made in Japan amid China's strengthening of export restrictions against Japan.' It then reported that 'Japanese netizens have made sarcastic remarks, saying "Japan is now at the level of searching for rare earths in garbage,"' and introduced specific comments such as 'Prime Minister Takaichi said rare earths were not a problem, but in reality, the situation seems quite difficult,' 'They've finally started sifting through garbage to secure rare earths,' and 'Won't air conditioner outdoor unit thefts increase?' In reality, many positive voices have been raised regarding this initiative, but they were not introduced in the Global Times article. Finally, the article reiterated the claim by China's Ministry of Commerce that 'the purpose of export restrictions on dual-use items (military and civilian goods) for Japan is to prevent Japan's rearmament, and is a completely legitimate, reasonable, and legal measure.' Chinese netizens posted numerous sarcastic comments such as 'Work harder, Japan (lol),' 'That's good. Keep it up. Hope you can quickly catch up to the time (during the war) when you collected iron to make bullets,' 'Isn't it like a heavy smoker rummaging through an ashtray in the middle of the night to pull out a stub?' 'Japan, like France, should stop using air conditioners and contribute to the global environment,' 'What happened to the rare earths on the seabed?' and 'Didn't they say there was an inexhaustible amount in the deep sea?' (Translation and editing by Kitada)