2009-11-21 20:35 KST  
  RSS
Global Voices Online - The world is talking. Are you listening?
JapanFocus
Report: Japan revises guidelines for diplomats to encourage reporting of spies
The Associated Press (apwire)     Email Article  Print Article 
Published 2006-06-11 17:51 (KST)   
TOKYO

Japan has revised its guidelines for diplomats on handling approaches by spies to encourage the prompt and accurate reporting of such incidents, a news report said Sunday.

The revised guidelines reflect lessons learned from the May 2004 suicide of a staff member of Japan's consulate in Shanghai, China, the Yomiuri newspaper said.

Japan's government alleges that Chinese agents blackmailed the consular worker into revealing state secrets, ultimately driving him to kill himself. It has repeatedly accused Beijing of violating the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, which guarantees diplomats immunity.

The allegations have enflamed tensions between the two countries, which are already at odds over a range of issues, including China's growing military power, rights to undersea gas deposits and interpretations of wartime history.

''Based on the Shanghai incident, we need to handle such matters as an organization so they don't arise again,'' the Yomiuri quoted Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Yoshinori Katori as saying.

The ministry's revised guidelines note that diplomatic personnel are obligated to report any approaches by foreign intelligence agents to their superiors, the newspaper said.

However, the number of channels for doing so has now increased, the Yomiuri said. The guidelines now also say that personnel who have leaked information may not necessarily lose their jobs if they make frank reports of such contacts, it said.

The ministry also revised its training manual for diplomats, adding a warning to ''be careful about persons of the opposite sex who approach you in a friendly manner,'' the newspaper said.

Foreign Ministry officials were not available for comment Sunday.
©2006 OhmyNews
Other articles by reporter The Associated Press

Add to :  Add to Del.icio.usDel.icio.us |  Add to Digg this Digg  |  Add to reddit reddit |  Add to Y! MyWeb Y! MyWeb

  Comments    Note: Kindly refrain from personal attacks and profanity.
   Name   Your Blog  
   Title  
   Comment  
   Input
   number
  24   
10.  funny ringtones funny ringtones , 2006-10-15 04:18  
9.  funny ringtones funny ringtones , 2006-10-15 04:18  
8.  mp3 ringtones mp3 ringtones , 2006-10-15 04:17  
7.  mp3 ringtones mp3 ringtones , 2006-10-15 04:17  
6.   , 2006-08-14 23:03  
5.  ringtones free ringtones free , 2006-08-14 23:03  
Yehonathan Tommer
 
Independent Inquiry Is Unavoidable
Michael Werbowski
 
[Fiction] The Plague Chronicles
John Boland
 
Not So "Neet"
Michael Solis
 
Victims of HIV-related Travel Restrictions in Korea
[ESL/EFL Podcast] Saying No
Seventeenth in a series of English language lessons from Jennifer Lebedev...
  [ESL/EFL] Talking About Change
  [ESL/ EFL Podcast] Personal Finances
  [ESL/EFL] Buying and Selling
How worried are you about the H1N1 influenza virus?
  Very worried
  Somewhat worried
  Not yet
  Not at all
    * Vote to see the result.   
 Two Stories Become Three in Lexington, Va.
 Fund Raising Fair
 Will Hatoyama Ban Whaling?
 Beauty from the Fires of Hell
 Amazon Business Show Starts in a Week
 Tiepolo, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Picasso and More:
 Questions for President Obama
 Brazil - Global Entrepreneurship Week
 A Serious Man
 I have been fired from my job
KOREA WORLD SCI&TECH ART&LIFE ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS GLOBAL WATCH INTERVIEWS PODCASTS
  copyright 1999 - 2009 ohmynews all rights reserved. internews@ohmynews.com Tel:+82-2-733-5505,5595(ext.125) Fax:+82-2-733-5011,5077