Japan PM’s push for counter-espionage law splits parties in snap election

TOKYO - Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s resolve to enact a counter-espionage law has become a campaign issue, dividing parties into supporters who want to protect national security and opponents concerned about threats to privacy and civil liberties.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party led by Ms Takaichi maintains such legislation is necessary to prevent sensitive state information from falling into the hands of foreign actors. As prime minister, she called the necessary legislative work a “pressing” issue.

Some legal experts say the time is ripe for debate on a possible counter-espionage law as Japan has been opening its doors, albeit gradually, to more foreign workers and students. But opponents have raised concern about greater public surveillance by the state.

Led by Ms Takaichi, a security hawk, the LDP has pledged to “comprehensively strengthen” the country’s intelligence services and establish a new national intelligence secretariat within the government.

Before Ms Takaichi called the House of Representatives election in January, sources had told Kyodo News the government was aiming to put forward legislation to establish the body for coordinating intelligence across government ministries and agencies, in July.

The Japan Innovation Party, the LDP’s ruling coalition partner, agrees on the need to enact a counter-espionage law. Among the opposition, the Democratic Party for the People and the Sanseito party, which have seen their popularity rise in recent elections, have also put forward proposals on anti-spying measures.

Drawing a line with them is the Centrist Reform Alliance, a new party comprising lawmakers from the left-leaning Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Komeito party.

The largest opposition party does not touch on espionage legislation in its campaign platform but promises to “strengthen the cross-ministerial intelligence framework”.

The Japanese Communist Party is opposed to any anti-spying legislation that would infringe upon basic human rights.

Prof Masahiko Shimizu, a professor of constitutional theory at Nippon Sport Science University, said there is insufficient justification for creating a new law to protect sensitive information.

Japan already has a secrecy law designed to protect sensitive information on defence, diplomacy, espionage and terrorism. It came into effect in 2014 during the premiership of Shinzo Abe, whose hawkish views on defence and security are shared by Ms Takaichi.

Before that, the government also faced controversy in tabling new intelligence legislation. In 1985, public anger forced the LDP to scrap its proposed national secrets law, which would have introduced punishments for the collection of classified information.

“If the parameters of what constitutes a ‘national secret’ expand and threaten the right to know, freedom of expression would be constrained,” Prof Shimizu said.

He warned that people who have been in contact with individuals labelled by authorities as spies could also be subject to punishment, adding, “Don’t think it would not have anything to do with you.”

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Prof Masato Kamikubo, a professor of contemporary Japanese politics at Ritsumeikan University, believes new legislation is necessary, citing an increase in foreign workers across many professional fields.

“Universities and companies can’t judge whether someone is a spy or not,” he said.

The number of foreign workers in the country reached a new high of 2.57 million in October, according to data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

But Prof Kamikubo is critical of how the political parties are fixated on creating legislation, rather than its substance. KYODO NEWS