Tag - state-secrets-law

 
 

STATE SECRETS LAW

JAPAN / Politics
Apr 23, 2014
U.S. expert urges appeals process for Abe secrecy law
An American expert on classification policy has said that Japan's recently enacted secrecy law lacks proper checks and balances that are necessary to prevent bureaucratic overreach and ensure government accountability.
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2014
Calling Abe to account
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito should refrain from ramrodding their proposals through the Diet as they did with the state state secrets bill during the recent extradordinary Diet session.
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2014
Momii unfit to lead NHK
Recent remarks by new NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii on 'comfort women' and NHK's duty to toe the government line show that his appointment was a mistake. He should resign or the NHK Board of Governors should remove him.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2014
Over half oppose Japan engaging in collective self-defense: survey
More than half of the public opposes Japan exercising the right to collective self-defense, the latest survey says.
EDITORIALS
Jan 11, 2014
Perilous times for journalists
Given its recent enactment of the state secrets protection law, how soon will Japan start to appear on the annual lists of imprisoned journalists put out by the Committee to Protect Journalists?
EDITORIALS
Jan 7, 2014
LDP's secrecy law propaganda
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is rebutting newspaper articles that have criticized the recently enacted state secrets protection law. But its documented arguments are far from convincing.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 6, 2014
The empire strikes back: the top issues for non-Japanese in 2013
2013 saw the enfranchised elite consolidating their power further than has ever been seen in the postwar era, while Japan's disenfranchised peoples slipped ever lower down the totem pole, becoming targets of suspicion, fear and loathing.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 2, 2014
Public's reaction to 'betrayal'
In light of the recent enact of the state secrets protectiion law, it is urgent that Japan improve its handling and disclosure of government information.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2013
Bureaucrats can be punished if state secrets leak during cyberattacks
Civil servants placed in charge of information management could be punished under the newly enacted secrecy law if secrets leak due to cyberattacks, an internal government document said Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 28, 2013
Protester charged over Diet shoe toss
A protester has been indicted for hurling a shoe at the floor of the House of Councilors during deliberations on the state secrecy law just before it was enacted earlier this month.
Japan Times
JAPAN / YEAR IN REVIEW 2013
Dec 25, 2013
A look back at the year's top 10 Japan news stories
Japan Times editors selected the following domestic stories as the most important in 2013.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 23, 2013
Secrets, lies, gaffes, glory: 2013 in quotes
A mix of scandals, achievements, political missteps and commemorations highlighted 2013. Here's a rundown of the quotations that shaped the Year of the Snake.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 21, 2013
Protecting nature to protect ourselves
This month's column takes an intrepid look at efforts to expand protected areas in Japan and worldwide, areas that are essential to conserve biological diversity and mitigate natural disasters.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 20, 2013
Dictatorship of the majority
Japanese civic movements conspicuously picked up steam to oppose the state secrets bill just before its enactment into law, illustrating that many Japanese voters become critical of the Abe administration when it takes up issues other than the economy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Dec 18, 2013
A secrets law for whom? Look who gets a free pass
Ancient Confucian scholars regarded law as a necessary evil, something used on lower orders of people who lacked the moral refinement to act righteously without prompting. Yet this just states a basic truth about law: It is something we do to other people. You and I know how to act properly, right? It's those awful other people who act like jerks and need their freedom restricted by rules.
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2013
Ishiba's ominous words
Statements by LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba underscore the danger that the new state secrets law could pose to Japanese democracy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 14, 2013
TPP offers early test of how far secrets law will cow Japan's media
Journalist Toshihiro Yamanaka characterizes the TPP talks as 'the most secretive trade negotiations to take place since the end of the 19th century,' an observation supported by classified documents recently released by WikiLeaks showing how the U.S. is pressuring all countries involved in TPP to make sure details of the talks are kept from the public.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 14, 2013
Society struggles to adapt to post-privacy age
Individuals are visible as never before, and democratic governments, reeling from successive exposures of state secrets, are struggling desperately to withdraw into the shadows. No democracy has gone further in that direction than Japan under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2013
Government to promulgate new secrets law quickly
The government will promulgate the contentious state secrets law Friday, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet will be tested in its ability to create viable independent overseers to check how the state classifies and declassifies information before the law takes effect within a year.
EDITORIALS
Dec 12, 2013
Repeal the state secrets law
Repeal of the recently enacted state secrets law appears indispensable for ensuring that Japan remains an open society with democratic principles fully upheld.

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