Japanese Spy Arrested

It looked like an ordinary Chinese negative campaign against Japan at the beginning. Now, it became a scandal, in which Japanese government might have been involved.

Last Wednesday, Chinese government announced that it arrested two Japanese men in May, suspecting them as spies. While Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, dismissed that possibility, saying “We absolutely did not that kind of thing,” the spies are appearing to be hired by Public Security Intelligence Agency, based on recognition of Chinese side. It is tested whether Japanese government can save life of Japanese citizens in foreign territory.

One of two Japanese men was arrested in Nanji Islands located in the western part of East China Sea, close to Chinese mainland. They are located 300 kilometers west of Senkaku Islands, disputed by China as its own territory. Chinese Force planted brand-new radar and constructed military assets including new heliport in Nanji Islands last year. It is obvious that Chinese government was nervous about visitors to the islands, where had mostly been a base of fisheries. Another was captured in a city close to the border between China and North Korea.

According to some reports in Japan, two arrested men indicated that they were hired by Japanese Public Security Intelligence Agency, a government organization that collected security information inside and outside of Japan. They had formerly traveled China several times. Their mission was to collect information about Chinese military, activity of North Korea in the place close to the border and abducted Japanese or fled people from North Korea. One expert realized that that kind of information gathering was routine activity by Japanese government.

What has been changed was Chinese legislation on spying. Chinese government laid new legislation called Anti-spy Law, which determined spying as activity of harming national security by foreign citizen or stealing classified information. The law includes death penalty for the criminal. It is possible that concluding this issue may take a long time.

It became an important point how Japanese government explain this issue to Japanese people. Suga has made a big lie to Japanese people, if the story of Japanese spy in China turned to be true. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated that he was determined to save Japanese people in foreign country during discussion over new security bills in the Diet. While Japan has been said as a heaven for foreign spies, it is failing in spying in foreign country. Japanese government will understand that it has not achieved confidence from its people, which must be a crucial basis of national security.