Offices of the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation to Japan in Minato-ku, Tokyo. (©Sankei by Hideyuki Matsui)
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The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Bureau has referred a former employee of the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in Japan to prosecutors on suspicion of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. In other words, the Russian was arrested for violating rules against the disclosure of trade secrets. However, the individual in question has already returned to Russia.
This Russian government employee allegedly reached out to an employee of a machine tool company in the Tokyo metropolitan area. At the time, the Japanese employee was in charge of sales at the company.
Claiming to be Ukrainian, the Russian wined and dined and gave money to the Japanese employee. In exchange, the Japanese sales representative gave him confidential information about the machine tool company.
How It Began
It all started when, on his way home, the former employee was stopped by the Russian who asked him for directions. It was a classic case of a professional spy using a well-tested technique for initiating contact with someone being targeted as a HUMINT (human intelligence) source. The charges, as brought by the prosecutors, reflect the difficulties authorities face in investigating similar cases.
Likewise, the Public Security Bureau arrested a Chinese female in 2024 on suspicion of espionage. However, they ended up charging her only with fraud. This is because Japan lacks any laws specifically covering espionage. Organizational options for dealing with external counterintelligence are also weak.
Decades of Awareness with No Action
A Diet member introduced an espionage prevention bill 1985. However, it had to be scrapped that same year due to opposition parties' resistance and other reasons.
In the run-up to the February 8 Lower House election, the Liberal Democratic Party has pledged to drastically strengthen the nation's intelligence functions. It also promised to establish an agency to handle foreign intelligence matters. Nippon Ishin no Kai, the LDP's coalition partner, has also called for enacting an anti-espionage law and creating a "Foreign Intelligence Agency."
In the political opposition, the Democratic Party for the People has proposed a comprehensive intelligence system. Their proposal would include measures to prevent espionage, strengthen information gathering, and an evaluation system. This would be done by integrating intelligence agencies.
Meanwhile, campaign pledges made so far by the opposition Komeito and Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan coalition, the Centrist Reform Alliance, do not explicitly mention espionage prevention. But in the past, the CDP has been cool to the idea of enacting anti-espionage laws.
Also in the opposition, the Japan Communist Party remains adamantly opposed to such legislation. JCP claims it would lead to "surveillance of Japanese citizens and violations of basic human rights."
Ending the 'Paradise for Spies'
However, Japan cannot forever remain a "paradise for spies." Now is the right time to act. Hopefully, the need for an anti-espionage law and an agency to handle foreign intelligence will be thoroughly discussed and debated during the current election.
How intelligence is regarded and handled is a critical issue that can determine the fate of a nation. At the same time, the mainstay of intelligence in the international community is shifting. Instead of HUMINT, based on human interactions, it is moving to SIGINT, which involves electronic communications and signal intelligence.
Japan is in dire need of a full-fledged intelligence agency and a statutory law to authorize its activities.
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Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun
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