Japan Press Weekly

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2023 April 5 - 11 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Gov't seeks to set up think tank specializing in defense, military, espionage

The government on April 7 drew up a blueprint for setting up a think tank, with collaboration with U.S. defense institutes in mind, to militarily utilize information and the achievements of high-tech research and development conducted by research institutions and universities.

The government will draft an outline plan for a new think tank which will highly likely engage in making policy proposals in fields of information-gathering, defense, and military.

The Japanese Communist Party has repeatedly pointed out in the Diet that such a think tank will act as a bridge between military innovation and R&D on advanced science and technology. JCP Dietmember Tamura Tomoko at an Upper House plenary session in May criticized the creation of a think tank for mobilizing universities and researchers to work on military research.

The government says that the planned think tank will collect undisclosed information and in the future will undertake information gathering from foreign governments or organizations. Legal confidentiality will be levied on all persons involved in this think tank, according to the government.

During discussions on the launch of this think tank, many Dietmembers expressed expectations that the planned think tank will take on international intelligence work, strengthen ties with the U.S. government-affiliated military think tank Research and Development Corporation, and reinforce a network with the U.S. DoD Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).