Cabinet Submits a Bill for Intelligence Council

Sanae Takaichi Cabinet approved on March 13th a bill to establish National Intelligence Council (NIC). It was submitted to the Diet on the same day. The council is expected to coordinate all the domestic and foreign information which are collected by each ministry. However, some ministries have their own intelligence section. The key to success is whether the council can siphon sensitive information beyond the border between ministries. 

The NIC will be chaired by the prime minister. Its members are supposed to be related ministers, including of foreign affairs, of defense, of economy or of police. They will discuss information on national security or activities related to terrorism. The information may include some from foreign countries, which will be collected through undercover activities in overseas.

 

That kind of intelligence has been dealt by each ministry or organization. National Police Agency has Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Department in its Security Bureau. Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a section for Intelligence and Analysis Service. Ministry of Defense has Defense Intelligence Headquarters. Public Security Intelligence Agency in Ministry of Justice is in charge of ensuring public security under Subversive Activities Prevention Act.

 

The council will have a subsidiary organization, National Intelligence Bureau consisted with about 700 bureaucrats, by reorganizing current Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office in Cabinet Office. The NIC is going to report to the prime minister frequently. Although Takaichi hopes to create an intelligence community that can paralleled with that of the United States, which has daily presidential briefing, the NIC will report to the prime minister twice a week.

 

The NIC is expected to coordinate information in those agencies of each ministry. To implement its status as a coordinator, the NIC will be vested a power to receive every information from each ministry. But the information in those ministries should have been collected for the activities of each ministry. It is likely for a ministry to be reluctant to give their own information to another ministry.

 

Takaichi is promoting legislation of an anti-spy law. One of the reasons why anti-spy law was rejected in 1980s was that the law was supposed to be designated to oppress leftist organizations in Japan at the time of Cold War. Police organization and Ministry of Justice has large amount of information about subversive activists. An anti-spy law has been discussed by conservative powers in the context of adversary between right and left.

The coalition agreement between Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party includes establishment of anti-spy law. However, the NIC can have a role to watch domestic activities of leftists or liberal organizations. That can degrade new intelligence organization to merely a tool for the conservatives to oppress their political enemies.

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