TOKYO (AP) — Japan said Monday it has successfully drilled and retrieved deep-sea sediment containing rare earth minerals from the seabed near a remote island, as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on China. The deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu’s successful gathered the sediment at a depth of nearly 6,000 kilometers near the island of Minamitorishima , Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a statement on X. The test retrieval of the rare earths from that depth is a world first, she added. “