Press freedom in Japan

日本新闻自由

Secrecy and lies

保密与谎言

A tough new law on secrecy has suddenly become controversial

一部事关保密的严苛新法突然间引起了争议

Oct 19th 2013 | TOKYO |From the print edition

Full of leaks

都在泄密

“A PARADISE for spies” is how a former agent of the Soviet KGB described Japan in the 1980s. Little has changed, though now the politicians and bureaucrats more often pass information to journalists than to foreign agents. But this autumn Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, is trying to stop the leaks by passing a forceful new secrecy law, even as he seeks to pass economic reforms as part of his programme of measures known as “Abenomics”. He also wants to legislate for a new national security council in order to centralise intelligence information and speed decisions on national security. New rules on secrecy are needed for it to function well, says the government. The media, fearful for press freedom, are crying foul.

“间谍的天堂”，在80年代，潜伏日本苏联克格勃特工如此称呼这个国度。到如今，“天堂”依然是“天堂”，只不过相比外国特工，政客与官员现在更多是把消息透露给记者。但这个秋天，安倍晋三首相决意推动一部新的强有力的保密法案，希望以此止住泄密。其认真程度，不下于他推动“安倍经济学”中的经济改革法案。他还想设立一个国家安全委员会，用以集中情报信息，便于对国家安全问题做出快速决策。政府称，国家安全委员会需要新保密法案的支持。为新闻自由担忧的媒体界高呼此举违规。

Japan is much less punitive than other countries towards leakers. Civil servants who breach rules on confidentiality are currently liable to just one year in prison. Only officials of Japan’s Self Defence Forces face the possibility of stricter punishment: five years for leaking defence secrets, or ten if they are gleaned from Japan’s security pact with America.

相比其他国家，日本对泄密者的惩罚较轻。违规泄密的公务员只会被判一年徒刑。只有自卫队的官员会遭受更严厉的惩罚：泄露军事机密判5年，收集日美军事关系情报的判10年。

The gap widened after the events of September 11th 2001, when security elsewhere became tighter. This year America used its Espionage Act of 1917 to hand down a 35-year prison sentence to Bradley Manning, a former soldier, for passing information to the WikiLeaks website. Previous Japanese governments have tried to clamp down, but memories of the feared wartime secrecy regime have caused moves to tighten the law to be blocked.

2001年9·11之后，全球各地的安全局势变得紧张，而对军人泄密的惩罚也随之加重。今年，美国依照1917年制定的《反间谍法》，判处了布拉德利·曼宁35五年监禁。这位曾经的军人因向维基解密网站提供情报而获罪。日本前几任的政府都曾努力推动类似法案，但由于对战时保密制度的恐惧记忆犹新，法案受到了阻挠。

Japan’s allies, especially America, complain that information entrusted to it is too often leaked, says Nobutaka Machimura, a former foreign minister who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s task-force on the law. If passed, the bill would apply to all civil servants and to high-ranking politicians. “Special secrets” would be designated in three new fields of diplomacy, counter-espionage and counter-terrorism (in addition to defence). The penalty for leaks—also applied to those who encourage breaches, such as journalists—would be up to ten years in prison. Further details are scant, but the bill reportedly lacks important provisions, including independent review of what can be called secret, and a clear limit on the period of confidentiality.

前任外务大臣，负责自民党这次立法行动的町村信孝说，日本的盟国，尤其是美国，都抱怨说委托给日本的情报泄密过于频繁。如果法案得以通过，那将适用于所有公务员，包括高级别的政治家。“特秘”情报（除军事以外还）包括外交、反间谍与反恐三方面。对泄密者的惩罚——包括鼓动泄密的，譬如记者——将是十年徒刑。具体细节仍然未知，但据说法案缺少一些重要条款，包括对机密定义的独立审查，以及保密期长的限制。

That means the government could keep far more information under the veil than is necessary, says Kiyoshi Gojima, deputy managing director of Sankei Shimbun, a newspaper. The public would have less access to information than before, to some degree reversing a campaign in recent years for greater government transparency.

《产经新闻》副社长Kiyoshi Gojima称，这样的法案意味着政府可能会秘密掌握太多信息，超出必要数目。公众知情权更少了，这是对近年来要求更大政府透明度之潮流的一种颠覆。

In the field of diplomacy, for instance, the contents and outcome of summit meetings could be kept firmly secret. Last month, Norika Fujiwara, a television celebrity, warned that information relating to radiation from the meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in 2011 could be ruled off limits by the new law. An adviser to Mr Abe denied this would happen.

以外交领域为例，首脑级会议的内容与结果都将保密。电视明星藤原纪香上个月警告说，与2011年福岛核电站第一反应堆泄露有关的信息也将为新法所禁。安倍的一名顾问否认了这一点。

Another risk is that public officials will stop talking to journalists entirely, says Mr Gojima. That would be a big shift from the current system of privileged press clubs, in which reporters have special channels to sources in the government and bureaucracy who pass on inside information. The current system needs reform, says Koichi Nakano of Sophia University, but there is no need to jump to the other extreme.

另一风险是，公职官员会完全停止与记者的往来，Gojima如是说。这将极大地改变现有的特权新闻俱乐部体系，记者将再难通过特殊渠道从政府机构获取信息。现有体系是需要改革，但也不需要走到另一个极端，上智大学政治学教授中野晃一如是说。

The final bill is expected to state the public’s right to know, and to include a commitment to press freedom. The LDP’s coalition partner, New Komeito, will insist on such amendments. But public opinion seems to be firmly against the law, so Mr Abe may face resistance, even though his government has a majority in both houses of parliament. One unwelcome outcome would be if the bill diverts government attention from economic reforms.

法案的最终版本将涉及公众知情权，并包括对新闻自由的承诺。自民党的盟友新公明党将致力于完成这些修正。但公众坚决反对这项方案。即便安倍在国会两院都坐拥多数席位，他的前方仍有阻碍。如果这项法案分散了在经济改革上的专注，那结果就不妙了。