Hafizzz
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2010
- Messages
- 5,041
- Reaction score
- 0
Protests mount over Japan secrecy bill | GlobalPost
Protests were mounting in Japan Friday against a controversial bill that would give Tokyo far broader powers in deciding what constitutes a state secret, and severely punish those who leak the information.
Thousands of demonstrators have hit the streets to register their anger at the bill, expected to pass the lower house of parliament next week, which comes amid worldwide debate over government secrecy in the wake of the Edward Snowden affair.
A rally was scheduled for Friday evening in Tokyo near parliament, after organisers said several thousand people turned out to protest Thursday night at a park in the Japanese capital.
Under the draft bill, information related to defence, diplomacy, counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism will all be classified as a state secret, while government ministers can decide what information to keep from the public.
Critics argue that the bill could mean far more information would be kept from the public, with little oversight.
Earlier Friday, activists in Hiroshima staged a sit-in protest, holding banners that read; "We Oppose the Legislation for Protection of Special Secrets". More rallies are planned for the weekend.
The legislation is aimed at plugging Japan's notoriously leaky bureaucracy after years of complaints from chief ally the United States, which has been reluctant to pool information.
Under the proposed bill, public servants who give away state secrets could be jailed for up to 10 years. The present maximum is one.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has passionately argued that the bill is necessary in order for Japan to freely exchange sensitive intelligence with the United States and other nations in order to boost national defence, as China grows increasingly assertive.
But most of the country's media have slammed the bill as an overreach, saying it would threaten freedom of the press.
"We have pointed out that the four categories for secrecy are vaguely defined and too broad," the influential Nikkei business daily said in an editorial Friday.
It added that there was a "sense of mistrust" toward lawmakers who appeared to be intent on ramming the bill through parliament with a minimum of debate.
The conservative Sankei Shimbun, however, argued the legislation was necessary to defend Japan and called on the government to better explain its reasons for the wide-ranging bill.
Official intelligence-gathering has come under the spotlight since ex-CIA employee and NSA contractor Snowden fled to Hong Kong with a trove of what he says are documents that reveal the extent of US official snooping.
Protests were mounting in Japan Friday against a controversial bill that would give Tokyo far broader powers in deciding what constitutes a state secret, and severely punish those who leak the information.
Thousands of demonstrators have hit the streets to register their anger at the bill, expected to pass the lower house of parliament next week, which comes amid worldwide debate over government secrecy in the wake of the Edward Snowden affair.
A rally was scheduled for Friday evening in Tokyo near parliament, after organisers said several thousand people turned out to protest Thursday night at a park in the Japanese capital.
Under the draft bill, information related to defence, diplomacy, counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism will all be classified as a state secret, while government ministers can decide what information to keep from the public.
Critics argue that the bill could mean far more information would be kept from the public, with little oversight.
Earlier Friday, activists in Hiroshima staged a sit-in protest, holding banners that read; "We Oppose the Legislation for Protection of Special Secrets". More rallies are planned for the weekend.
The legislation is aimed at plugging Japan's notoriously leaky bureaucracy after years of complaints from chief ally the United States, which has been reluctant to pool information.
Under the proposed bill, public servants who give away state secrets could be jailed for up to 10 years. The present maximum is one.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has passionately argued that the bill is necessary in order for Japan to freely exchange sensitive intelligence with the United States and other nations in order to boost national defence, as China grows increasingly assertive.
But most of the country's media have slammed the bill as an overreach, saying it would threaten freedom of the press.
"We have pointed out that the four categories for secrecy are vaguely defined and too broad," the influential Nikkei business daily said in an editorial Friday.
It added that there was a "sense of mistrust" toward lawmakers who appeared to be intent on ramming the bill through parliament with a minimum of debate.
The conservative Sankei Shimbun, however, argued the legislation was necessary to defend Japan and called on the government to better explain its reasons for the wide-ranging bill.
Official intelligence-gathering has come under the spotlight since ex-CIA employee and NSA contractor Snowden fled to Hong Kong with a trove of what he says are documents that reveal the extent of US official snooping.
