Japan's proposed secrecy bill is disquieting

WHEN a conservative and generally pro-government paper such as The Japan Times calls on the public to take "grassroots" action against proposed legislation and to lobby their MPs to do the same thing, it must be assumed that something extraordinary is going on. On top of that, a Kyodo News survey says that this government bill aimed at toughening penalties for leaking state secrets is opposed by 50.6 per cent of the public. What might be regarded as this very "un-Japanese" call to popular protest has been occasioned by the decision of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's (LDP) government to submit to the national Diet a Secrecy Bill designed ostensibly to protect state information that the government deems vital to national security.

Mr Abe says that the draft legislation is meant to protect confidential information and that it is "a prerequisite" for the country so as to win the trust of, and share intelligence with, other countries. The prime minister apparently hopes to pass the bill in time for the planned launch of a Japanese version of the US National Security Council, to better respond to security threats around Japan, especially in dealing with China's assertive maritime activities and North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. However, bar associations and other advocates of constitutional democracy have expressed deep reservations about the proposed amendment. They argue that any government's claims of a need for secrecy must be balanced against the people's right to know about the actions of their government agents. There are also fears that this revision to the Freedom of Information Act of 2001 could restrict the flow of ordinary information that people need to know.

It is being asked, for instance, if the proposed law could curtail public access to information on issues such as the Fukushima nuclear crisis and the ongoing problems at the tsunami-devastated region and the seas around it. Or, for that matter, how the new law would affect information about tension with China over the disputed islands. These are both highly sensitive issues for the government. The Abe administration has come under severe domestic and international criticism for its handling of the Fukushima issue while skirmishes between Japanese and Chinese patrol vessels over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands have been openly publicised up to this point.