By Mina Pollmann
WikiLeaks revelations about U.S. espionage against Japan could jeopardize Abe’s security reforms.
Last Friday, the WikiLeaks website unveiled evidence that the U.S. National Security Agency is conducting espionage operations in Japan. On July 31, WikiLeaks published “Target Tokyo,” a list of 35 Top Secret NSA targets in Japan and five NSA reports on interceptsrelating to U.S.-Japan relations, trade negotiations, and sensitive climate strategy.
According to WikiLeaks’ press release, NSA spying on the Japanese government and businesses began at least as far back as 2006. The targets were wide-ranging:
The telephone interception target list includes the switchboard for the Japanese Cabinet Office; the executive secretary to the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga; a line described as “Government VIP Line”; numerous officials within the Japanese Central Bank, including Governor Haruhiko Kuroda; the home phone number of at least one Central Bank official; numerous numbers within the Japanese Finance Ministry; the Japanese Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Yoichi Miyazawa; the Natural Gas Division of Mitsubishi; and the Petroleum Division of Mitsui.
The Asahi Shimbun could not get a comment from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Mitsui. or Mitsubishi. The U.S. State Department also refused to comment, because, as deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said, they “don’t want to give any credence to these allegedly classified documents that have been released by WikiLeaks.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat