Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae visited Hanoi in early May, signing six cooperation agreements with Vietnamese counterpart Le Minh Hung that identified critical minerals, semiconductors, and energy security as new bilateral priorities. The visit underscored Vietnam's broader strategy of maintaining "strategic autonomy" — a doctrine reaffirmed at the Communist Party of Vietnam's January 2026 congress — by building processing partnerships with Japan, Russia, and South Korea rather than exporting raw rare earth ore or aligning exclusively with any major power. The approach is significant given that Vietnam holds the world's sixth-largest rare earth reserves at a moment when China controls up to 100 percent of global rare earth refining and has imposed export licensing on key heavy rare earth elements, disrupting supply chains for Western manufacturers.