Japan Govt to Probe Possible Ship Collision Video Leak

Tokyo, Nov. 5 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan
instructed transport minister Sumio Mabuchi on Friday to investigate what
appears to be a leaked footage of the ship collision incident in September
that led to a sharp deterioration in Japan's ties with China.
At a meeting of cabinet ministers, Kan told Mabuchi to ensure
strict management of crucial information and investigate whether the footage
that was posted on a video-sharing Web site on Thursday night was real and
how possibly the video was leaked on the Internet.
Mabuchi ordered the Japan Coast Guard to look into a possibility
that the video has been leaked by someone in the maritime safety agency.
Uploaded on the Internet were six video files with a total length of some 44
minutes.
In the maritime incident, a Chinese trawler collided with two Coast
Guard vessels near a chain of East China Sea islands claimed by both Japan
and China on Sept. 7. Coast Guard crew members aboard the ships--the
"Mizuki" and the "Yonakuni"--videotaped the incident.
The following day, the skipper of the Chinese boat was arrested by
the Coast Guard, a development that angered China and helped deteriorate
Sino-Japanese relations. The skipper was released in Sept. 25.
The video filmed by the Coast Guard was handled by its office on
Ishigaki island, Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, and the 11th Regional
Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha, also Okinawa, according to informed
sources.
A copy of the video was sent to the Coast Guard's head office in
Tokyo, and a limited number of lawmakers viewed a DVD containing the footage
on Monday. The video is now kept at the Coast Guard's Ishigaki office and
the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office after the copy sent to the head
office was erased in late October, according to the sources.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said at a press conference
Friday that if the footage that was posted on the Internet is confirmed to
be identical with the video filmed by the Coast Guard, drastic reform
measures would be necessary to prevent a similar information leakage.
Justice Minister Minoru Yanagida told a separate press conference
that it would be very regrettable if the leakage is confirmed. The Naha
prosecutors office is now investigating details, he added.
Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, speaking at a House of
Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee meeting, also called for a
thorough probe on the matter.
The news on possible video leakage is expected to deal an
additional heavy blow to the government because it might represent another
example of its sloppy handling of important information following a recent
revelation that police data on terrorism have been leaked on the Internet.
The opposition camp turned up the heat on the government.
Nobuteru Ishihara, secretary-general of the main opposition Liberal
Democratic Party, urged the government to fully disclose the video shot by
the Coast Guard. The DVD viewed by the lawmakers on Monday had only about
seven minutes of video content.
If it is confirmed that someone in the government was involved in
the video leakage, the transport minister or the justice minister should be
dismissed to take responsibility for the blunder, Ishihara said.
Yoshihisa Inoue, secretary-general of New Komeito, another
opposition party, also called for the full disclosure of the video, saying
that the government's responsibility would be grave if the leakage is
confirmed.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Sengoku said that China has made an inquiry
to Tokyo about the possible video leakage through diplomatic channels. The
Japanese side replied that it is not in a position to make comment on
whether the footage posted on the Internet is the same as the video recorded
by the Coast Guard, according to Sengoku.
Sengoku added that he hopes the latest development will not affect
the two countries' work to set up a bilateral meeting between Japanese Prime
Minister Kan and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Yokohama, southwest of
Tokyo, in mid-November.
Tokyo is aiming to mend its soured ties with Beijing through the
envisaged Kan-Hu meeting.


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