Australia has started to follow Japan’s footsteps in diversifying trade away from China, according to Japan’s ambassador to Australia, who said he expects a closer partnership between the two countries in the metals and mining sectors as Australia’s second largest export market. Yamagami Shingo, who assumed the post of Ambassador of Japan to Australia in December 2020, said Japan also had first-hand experience of China’s economic coercion 12 years ago, when the communist regime restricted exports of rare earth metals that were crucial for Japan’s high-tech industries. He noted that following China’s rare earth exports ban, Japan searched for alternative sources and was able to reduced its dependence on Chinese suppliers from around 90 percent to 60 percent of its imports. The move has, in turn, strengthened the economic relationship between Japan and Australia, as it involved the development of Western Australia’s Mount Weld mine that is operated by local …