Nippon Ishin to Submit Anti-Espionage Bill to Extra Diet Session

Tokyo, Oct. 1 (Jiji Press)–Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) plans to submit an anti-espionage bill to an upcoming extraordinary session of the Diet, it was learned Wednesday. The bill will call for establishing a foreign intelligence agency based on existing government bodies, and for upgrading the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office to a national intelligence bureau. The opposition party is also seeking to create laws to require lobbyists and others who engage in political and promotional activities for foreign interests in Japan to register and report their activities. The laws are expected to include penalties for violators. Nippon Ishin believes that it is necessary to strengthen Japan’s intelligence capabilities in light of increasing threats from China, Russia and North Korea. “We hope our ideas (about anti-espionage efforts) will be discussed” during possible coalition talks with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Nippon Ishin co-leader Fumitake Fujita told reporters. As the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito are considering similar laws, Fujita voiced his party’s willingness to cooperate with the parties on the issue. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]