{"id":12039,"date":"2014-01-03T08:18:27","date_gmt":"2014-01-03T18:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12039"},"modified":"2014-01-03T09:25:14","modified_gmt":"2014-01-03T19:25:14","slug":"nyt-editorial-japans-dangerous-anachronism-on-state-secrets-law-and-pm-abes-intentions-to-cast-off-postwar-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12039","title":{"rendered":"NYT Editorial: “Japan\u2019s Dangerous Anachronism”, on State Secrets Law and PM Abe’s intentions to “cast off Postwar regime”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. You know things are really getting serious when the Old Grey Lady starts doomsaying. After a milder editorial last April<\/a>, the NYT has broken the news about Japan’s Extreme (I think we can call it “extreme” without hyperbole) Rightward Swing<\/a> in an editorial last month. And it does it without worrying about allegedly imperiling “The Relationship”, the typical excuse for pulling punches when it comes to criticism of Japan (e.g., avoid “racist Japan bashing”, and protect our closest ally, hitherto largest sales market outside of the USA, and most successful American-reconstructed Postwar country in Asia). The NYT now sees the “danger” (and calls it that). \u00a0It’s time for people to start considering the PM Abe Administration as a regional security risk, and \u00a0— Dare I say it? Yes I do —\u00a0drawing up contingent strategies of containment as one would China.<\/p>\n

This is where we’re heading in 2014. The longer the world averts one’s eyes to Abe’s true intentions over the next two years, the worse it will be for the Japanese, and for Japan’s neighbors. Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

THE NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL<\/strong>
\n Japan\u2019s Dangerous Anachronism<\/strong>
\n Published: December 16, 2013<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/12\/16\/opinion\/japans-dangerous-anachronism.html<\/a><\/p>\n

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this month rammed through Parliament a state secrecy law that signals a fundamental alteration of the Japanese understanding of democracy. The law is vaguely worded and very broad, and it will allow government to make secret anything that it finds politically inconvenient. Government officials who leak secrets can be jailed for up to 10 years, and journalists who obtain information in an \u201cinappropriate\u201d manner or even seek information that they do not know is classified can be jailed for up to five years. The law covers national security issues, and it includes espionage and terrorism.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Just before the passage of the law, the secretary general of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, Shigeru Ishiba, likened those legally demonstrating against the state secrecy law to terrorists in his blog on Nov. 29. This callous disregard of freedom of speech greatly raised suspicion of what the Abe government really has in mind. The Japanese public clearly seems to fear that the law will infringe on press freedom and personal liberties. In a public opinion poll conducted by the Kyodo News Agency, 82 percent of respondents said that the law should be repealed or revised.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. Abe is, however, arrogantly dismissive of the public\u2019s concerns. \u201cThe law does not threaten ordinary life,\u201d he said after the law\u2019s passage. Showing an alarming ignorance of democracy, Gen Nakatani, a senior member of the Liberal Democratic Party, stated that \u201cthe affairs of government are distinct from the affairs of the people.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The law is an integral part of Mr. Abe\u2019s crusade to remake Japan into a \u201cbeautiful country,\u201d which envisions expanded government power over the people and reduced protection for individual rights \u2014 a strong state supported by a patriotic people. His stated goal is to rewrite the nation\u2019s Constitution, which was imposed by the United States Army during occupation seven decades ago.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Liberal Democratic Party\u2019s draft constitution, made public in April last year, deletes the existing article on the guarantee of fundamental human rights. It adds that the people must respect the national flag and national anthem. It states, \u201cThe people shall be aware that duties and obligations accompany freedoms and rights and shall never violate the public order and public interest.\u201d It also says that the prime minister will have the power to declare a state of emergency and suspend ordinary law.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. Abe\u2019s aim is to \u201ccast off the postwar regime.\u201d Critics in Japan warn that he is seeking to resurrect the pre-1945 state. It is a vision both anachronistic and dangerous.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

========================<\/p>\n

PS: \u00a0I am loath to quote this source, but even\u00a0Fox News on New Years Eve turned on its ally<\/a>: “Yet the visit to the [Yasukuni] Shrine makes many Americans think twice — wherein lies the real danger point in the Pacific — the crazy kid running North Korea, Chinese adventurism or a resurgence of the kind of nationalism that led Japan into war and conquest?”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know things are really getting serious when the Old Grey Lady starts doomsaying. After a milder editorial last April, the NYT has broken the news about Japan’s Extreme (I think we can call it “extreme” without hyperbole) Rightward Swing in an editorial last month. And it does it without worrying about allegedly imperiling “The Relationship”, the typical excuse for pulling punches when it comes to criticism of Japan (e.g., avoid “racist Japan bashing”, and protect our closest ally, hitherto largest sales market outside of the USA, and most successful American-reconstructed Postwar country in Asia). The NYT now sees the “danger” (and calls it that). It’s time for people to start considering the PM Abe Administration as a regional security risk, and — Dare I say it? Yes I do — drawing up contingent strategies of containment as one would China. This is where we’re heading in 2014. The longer the world averts one’s eyes to Abe’s true intentions over the next two years, the worse it will be for the Japanese, and for Japan’s neighbors.<\/p>\n

NYT: The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this month rammed through Parliament a state secrecy law that signals a fundamental alteration of the Japanese understanding of democracy. The law is vaguely worded and very broad, and it will allow government to make secret anything that it finds politically inconvenient. Government officials who leak secrets can be jailed for up to 10 years, and journalists who obtain information in an \u201cinappropriate\u201d manner or even seek information that they do not know is classified can be jailed for up to five years. […] Mr. Abe\u2019s aim is to \u201ccast off the postwar regime.\u201d Critics in Japan warn that he is seeking to resurrect the pre-1945 state. It is a vision both anachronistic and dangerous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,20,5,4,13,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gaiatsu","category-history","category-human-rights","category-japanese-government","category-media","category-sitys"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12039\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}