By Takuya Nishimura, Senior Fellow, Former Editorial Writer for The Hokkaido Shimbun
The views expressed by the author are his own and are not associated with The Hokkaido Shimbun
You can find his blog, J Update here.
July 22, 2024. Special to Asia Policy Point
The Ministry of Defense announced on July 12 an unprecedented discipline of 218 members of the ministry and the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF). The charges covered unauthorized access to and misuse of highly sensitive information, falsification of records of exercise allowances, and harassment. Structural problems in the ministry and the SDF enabled the misconduct and cannot be immediately corrected.
The charges based on the mishandling of sensitive information were based on evidence that some unqualified crews in the Maritime Self-defense Force (MSDF) could access “specially designated secrets.” The information included the location of ships as displayed on the monitoring screen in the bridge or in the combat information center on board destroyers and other ships. Some unqualified members had not only accessed the information but handled it.
The Specially Designated Secrets Protection Act, enacted in 2014, identified certain information in diplomacy, security, espionage activities and terrorism as specially designated secrets. Although the legislation was criticized as a possible infringement on freedom of press, it was not the press, but the SDF that breached the law on a large scale.
The charges relating to record falsification involved diving exercises as training for rescuing crew of sunk submarines. Divers received monetary awards based on the time and depth of their dives. But the officers falsified these measurements to provide larger allowances to the divers.
After news of the scandal broke last November, the ministry announced the arrest of four MSDF members on charges of forgery of official documents this month. Although the ministry said that the amount of the payments based on false records of allowance was 43 million yen, it increased that number to 53 million yen a week later. The ministry has been criticized for its delay in disclosing this information.
The ministry also revealed that some MSDF members did not pay for meals in its facilities. Twenty-two members were punished. The nonpayments amounted to 1.6 million yen.
Finally, the ministry punished three officers in the civilian section of the ministry for harassment of their subordinances. The harassment took the form of emails asserting that the staff had been doing their jobs in a way that was hard to understand or claiming that they were immature. Some of the staff suffered mental breakdowns as a result.
MSDF Chief of Staff Ryo Sakai took responsibility for the failed oversight of the individuals involved and stepped down. Other Chiefs of Staff for the Joint Staff, Ground SDF and Air SDF were reprimanded. The Minister of Defense, Minoru Kihara, and the administrative vice-minister offered to return a part of their salaries. “Every case I announced today is a betrayal against the people and something that should have never happened,” said Kihara in his press conference.
Defense of Japan, the ministry’s annual white paper, which was published on the same day as the crimes were announced, ironically noted the importance of protecting secret information. Citing examples of leaks of specially designated secrets in 2022 and 2023, the white paper indicated that measures to prevent leaks were not working well. The misuse of sensitive information by members of the MSDF occurred before the ministry established new measures.
The Specially Designated Secrets Protection Act 2014 is one of the most controversial pieces of legislation of the Shinzo Abe administration. In this, it joins laws on the right of collective self-defense and the then-new crime of conspiracy. At the time, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wanted to confirm by statute the protection of sensitive secrets in order to share important information with allies such as the United States. Abe intended the legislation to blunt criticism that his administration violated freedom of the press or the right of privacy. Abe and his successors spent time and energy on battles with their political opponents at the expense of training personnel who would administer the law.
Most members who mishandled specially designated secrets or who falsely recorded allowances did it because their predecessors had done the same thing. It is a feature of Japanese culture that a crime will be tolerated if someone had done it before.
My personal view is that in comparing Japan and the U.S. one need to understand that there is a fundamental difference in education. If education is a process to raise worthy citizens for society, an ideal adult for Japan is someone who can act as others do and keep opinions to oneself. In the U.S., an adult is someone who can clearly and persuasively argue for one’s own opinion. The MSDF members, or everyone in Japan, have been educated to do as their predecessors did. International observers have a hard time understanding this.
The Asahi Shimbun previously revealed that Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which is now building submarines for the MSDF, is suspected of paying for gifts and dinners for MSDF members. In light of the SDF Ethics Act, which prohibits JSDF members from using their positions for private gain, the decline of morality in the MSDF is unconcealable.
Both Houses of the Diet are taking action. The Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of each House have agreed to hold a committee meeting on the issue during the recess. The opposition parties will charge that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delayed the ministry’s announcement to conceal a scandal inconvenient for the administration. In sum, this Defense Ministry scandal is another black mark against the Kishida administration.
The views expressed by the author are his own and are not associated with The Hokkaido Shimbun
You can find his blog, J Update here.
July 22, 2024. Special to Asia Policy Point
The Ministry of Defense announced on July 12 an unprecedented discipline of 218 members of the ministry and the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF). The charges covered unauthorized access to and misuse of highly sensitive information, falsification of records of exercise allowances, and harassment. Structural problems in the ministry and the SDF enabled the misconduct and cannot be immediately corrected.
The charges based on the mishandling of sensitive information were based on evidence that some unqualified crews in the Maritime Self-defense Force (MSDF) could access “specially designated secrets.” The information included the location of ships as displayed on the monitoring screen in the bridge or in the combat information center on board destroyers and other ships. Some unqualified members had not only accessed the information but handled it.
The Specially Designated Secrets Protection Act, enacted in 2014, identified certain information in diplomacy, security, espionage activities and terrorism as specially designated secrets. Although the legislation was criticized as a possible infringement on freedom of press, it was not the press, but the SDF that breached the law on a large scale.
The charges relating to record falsification involved diving exercises as training for rescuing crew of sunk submarines. Divers received monetary awards based on the time and depth of their dives. But the officers falsified these measurements to provide larger allowances to the divers.
After news of the scandal broke last November, the ministry announced the arrest of four MSDF members on charges of forgery of official documents this month. Although the ministry said that the amount of the payments based on false records of allowance was 43 million yen, it increased that number to 53 million yen a week later. The ministry has been criticized for its delay in disclosing this information.
The ministry also revealed that some MSDF members did not pay for meals in its facilities. Twenty-two members were punished. The nonpayments amounted to 1.6 million yen.
Finally, the ministry punished three officers in the civilian section of the ministry for harassment of their subordinances. The harassment took the form of emails asserting that the staff had been doing their jobs in a way that was hard to understand or claiming that they were immature. Some of the staff suffered mental breakdowns as a result.
MSDF Chief of Staff Ryo Sakai took responsibility for the failed oversight of the individuals involved and stepped down. Other Chiefs of Staff for the Joint Staff, Ground SDF and Air SDF were reprimanded. The Minister of Defense, Minoru Kihara, and the administrative vice-minister offered to return a part of their salaries. “Every case I announced today is a betrayal against the people and something that should have never happened,” said Kihara in his press conference.
Defense of Japan, the ministry’s annual white paper, which was published on the same day as the crimes were announced, ironically noted the importance of protecting secret information. Citing examples of leaks of specially designated secrets in 2022 and 2023, the white paper indicated that measures to prevent leaks were not working well. The misuse of sensitive information by members of the MSDF occurred before the ministry established new measures.
The Specially Designated Secrets Protection Act 2014 is one of the most controversial pieces of legislation of the Shinzo Abe administration. In this, it joins laws on the right of collective self-defense and the then-new crime of conspiracy. At the time, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wanted to confirm by statute the protection of sensitive secrets in order to share important information with allies such as the United States. Abe intended the legislation to blunt criticism that his administration violated freedom of the press or the right of privacy. Abe and his successors spent time and energy on battles with their political opponents at the expense of training personnel who would administer the law.
Most members who mishandled specially designated secrets or who falsely recorded allowances did it because their predecessors had done the same thing. It is a feature of Japanese culture that a crime will be tolerated if someone had done it before.
My personal view is that in comparing Japan and the U.S. one need to understand that there is a fundamental difference in education. If education is a process to raise worthy citizens for society, an ideal adult for Japan is someone who can act as others do and keep opinions to oneself. In the U.S., an adult is someone who can clearly and persuasively argue for one’s own opinion. The MSDF members, or everyone in Japan, have been educated to do as their predecessors did. International observers have a hard time understanding this.
The Asahi Shimbun previously revealed that Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which is now building submarines for the MSDF, is suspected of paying for gifts and dinners for MSDF members. In light of the SDF Ethics Act, which prohibits JSDF members from using their positions for private gain, the decline of morality in the MSDF is unconcealable.
Both Houses of the Diet are taking action. The Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of each House have agreed to hold a committee meeting on the issue during the recess. The opposition parties will charge that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delayed the ministry’s announcement to conceal a scandal inconvenient for the administration. In sum, this Defense Ministry scandal is another black mark against the Kishida administration.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Intelligent comments and additional information welcome. We are otherwise selective.