Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2013 October 9 - 15 [POLITICS]

Secrets protection law could work to hide actual status of Japan-US security treaty: ex-reporter

A former Mainichi Shimbun reporter on October 10 in a cross-party lawmakers’ study meeting about a secrets protection bill stated that the bill aims to hide discrepancies between stated agreements and the actual operations of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.

The meeting organized by 12 parliamentarians, including Japanese Communist Party Lower House member Akamine Seiken and Upper House member Nihi Sohei, lawmakers of the Democratic, Your, People’s Life, and Social Democratic parties, and independents brought together 250 participants, including lawmakers and citizens.

Former Mainichi journalist Nishiyama Takichi was criminally charged when he obtained from a foreign ministry worker a classified telegram between the Japanese and U.S. governments regarding their negotiations on Okinawa’s return to Japan in 1972.

Nishiyama said that it will be hard to obtain information that was previously open to the public under the planned strict regulations on information protection.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party recently announced that it will incorporate in the bill citizens’ right to know and establishment of a third-party body for designation of information as secret. This appears that the LDP made changes in response to public criticism.

Sophia University professor Tajima Yasuhiko said that the bill will enable state authorities to classify information as they want.

* * *

On the same day, Shuppankyo, a national council for book publishers released a statement opposing the secrets protection bill.

The statement states that the bill will give the prime minister authority to designate specific information as secret, which can contribute to hiding information from the general public in an arbitrary manner.