Japanese Media Criticizes Japan's Plan to Establish a "National Intelligence Agency"

[Global Times Report by Liu Yating] On the morning of the 13th, Japan’s Cabinet approved legislation to establish the “National Intelligence Council” and the responsible agency, the “National Intelligence Agency,” aimed at strengthening the overall coordination and command functions in intelligence collection and analysis.

According to Japan’s Asahi Shimbun on the 13th, the “National Intelligence Council” will be headed by the Japanese Prime Minister, with 11 cabinet ministers including the Chief Cabinet Secretary, Foreign Minister, and Defense Minister as members. It will oversee “important intelligence activities” related to security, counter-terrorism, and other fields, as well as “overseas intelligence activities” related to foreign espionage. Meanwhile, the “National Intelligence Agency” will serve as the executive body of this council and as the command center for intelligence collection and analysis activities. The existing Cabinet Intelligence Investigation Office under the Chief Cabinet Secretary will be upgraded, with its head becoming a government official-level “Director of the National Intelligence Agency.” This agency will not only conduct its own intelligence gathering but also be granted “comprehensive coordination authority” to gather intelligence from various departments and perform overall analysis.

Reports indicate that the Japanese government submitted the legislation to the National Diet on the 13th, with plans to establish these institutions as early as July. Once established, the “National Intelligence Council” is expected to formulate the government’s basic intelligence policy within the year, marking Japan’s first “National Intelligence Strategy” as part of its national strategy.

In response, Japan’s Shinsendo Daily News published an editorial on the 13th criticizing that this move by the Takashi government recalls the history of 1940, the year before the outbreak of the Pacific War, when the Cabinet Intelligence Department was elevated to the Cabinet Intelligence Agency. At that time, Japan’s intelligence and security agencies wielded enormous power to suppress freedom of speech and thought, mobilizing the public toward war through control of intelligence. Japan should not repeat such mistakes. We must once again recognize that the reason Japan has not established a unified and centralized intelligence and security system since the post-war era is closely related to the pacifist principles advocated by the Japanese Constitution.

An editorial in Tokyo Shimbun stated that since Shinzo Abe was re-elected as Japan’s Prime Minister in 2012, the Japanese government has continuously strengthened security-related legislation, including the “Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets” and the “Conspiracy Crime” law. Based on this, the introduction of policies such as establishing a “National Intelligence Agency” could further enhance surveillance of citizens.

The editorial also mentioned that, looking back at pre-World War II and wartime Japan, the Kempeitai (military police) and Tokko (special higher police) closely monitored Japanese citizens, thoroughly suppressed those opposed to the war or unwilling to cooperate, ultimately leading Japan toward disaster. Such history must never be repeated.