By Clint Richards
Despite an absence of legislation, Abe will be making two key security moves this fall.
With very little in the way of defense or security related legislation slated for the current extraordinary Diet session, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s LDP-led administration is nevertheless seeking to move forward on two related fronts outside the Diet. Both issues, the controversial state secrets law and the update to the U.S.-Japan defense cooperation guidelines, are scheduled to be enacted before the end of the year. They are both highly charged issues politically, particularly if Abe’s government seeks to enshrine its new interpretation of collective self-defense within the defense guidelines. However, it does not appear that the government feels confident enough to do so at this point.
The state secrets law is a sure thing, if not exactly popular domestically. The LDP-controlled ruling coalition, together with its junior partner Komeito, was easily able to pass the bill during last fall’s Diet session, despite sharp protests both in the media and from Japan’s fractured opposition. The law allows the government to jail both civil servants and journalists for divulging or publishing secrets related to defense, diplomacy, counter-terrorism or counter-espionage. The bill will go into effect December 10, and the government has heralded its passage as a way to increase cooperation with allies like the U.S. on matters of national security. However, the vague nature of the bill and its overarching powers (which could be used to protect information as wide ranging as the nuclear power industry) have raised concerns, with opposition MP Mizuho Fukushima saying “there are few specifics in the law, which means it can be used to hide whatever the government wishes to keep away from public scrutiny… In its current form, the prime minister can decide by himself what constitutes a secret.”
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