外交文書公開 隠し事はまだあった

(Mainichi Japan) December 23, 2010
More than meets the eye in declassified diplomatic documents
社説：外交文書公開　隠し事はまだあった

Declassified diplomatic documents covering Japan-U.S. negotiations on the 1972 reversion of Okinawa have raised suggestions that the ministry covered up details of its secret accords.
　外務省が１９７２年の沖縄返還をめぐる日米交渉などに関する外交文書を公開した。

An examination conducted by an experts' panel set up by the Foreign Ministry had clarified part of the Japan-U.S. secret agreement on the reversion of Okinawa to Japan's sovereignty. However, the declassified documents recently released by the Foreign Ministry shed light on larger part of the accord -- they were not covered by the panel's examination.
日米密約の一部については同省の有識者委員会の検証で一定程度解明されたが、今回はその検証の対象外だった文書の中から不自然な焼却処分の痕跡や財政負担に関する密約を裏付ける資料などが新たに見つかった。

In May, the Foreign Ministry put into effect regulations requiring declassification of virtually all of its official documents 30 years from the time they were compiled. This time, the third round of disclosure, 291 files, including 56 regarding Okinawa, were disclosed.
　外務省は今年５月、作成から３０年たった文書を原則公開する新たな規則を施行した。３回目の今回は沖縄関連５６冊を含む計２９１冊の文書が公開された。

Among the documents is one suggesting that the Japanese and U.S. governments plotted to ensure that a conservative candidate would win the first election of governor of the Ryukyu government under U.S. rule. Another shows Tokyo and Washington played a tug-of-war over the wording of an agreement to include the Senkaku Islands in the Okinawa islands to be returned to Japan's sovereignty.
　初の琉球政府行政主席公選で日米両政府が保守系候補を勝たせるために画策したことや、沖縄返還にからみ尖閣諸島が返還地域に含まれることをどう表現するかをめぐり日米が綱引きを演じたことなどを示す文書も含まれている。

More surprisingly, a memorandum showing that three confidential telegrams were incinerated was found in a file of documents on the Japan-U.S. secret agreement. Under the secret agreement, Japan footed the 4 million dollars required to restore land vacated by U.S. military facilities in Okinawa to its original state, even though such costs should have been borne by the United States.
　中でも驚かされるのは、沖縄返還に際して米国が支払うことになっていた米軍用地の原状回復補償費４００万ドルを日本が肩代わりした密約に関するファイルの中から、３通の機密電報を焼却したことを示すメモが見つかったことだ。

Furthermore, an entry in the handwritten index of the file titled, "Document 1 -- the leak of confidential information on Okinawa reversion talks" has been crossed out and the text of the document is missing although its cover is still kept in the file. A new typed index of the file does not even list the document.
　ファイル内容を記した手書きの目次では「沖縄返還交渉機密漏洩（ろうえい）事件」が横線で消され文書が欠落していた。その後、新たにタイプで作成された目次には「沖縄返還交渉機密漏洩事件」そのものが消えていた。

The Foreign Ministry states that it does not know how the ministry managed documents 40 years ago, and the memorandum does not show what kind of telegrams were incinerated.
　外務省は「４０年も前の文書管理については分からない」と言っており、何が焼却されたのかは不明だ。

If the telegrams were incinerated in order to destroy evidence of the secret pact, it would be an outrageous act that could betray the public's trust in the government. Questions also remain as to why the document showing that Japan footed the 4 million dollars was not found in the ministry's earlier investigation into the case.
もし密約の証拠を消すための意図的な焼却だったのなら許し難い背信行為である。４００万ドル肩代わり密約を裏付ける文書そのものも先の外務省調査で見つからなかったことと合わせ釈然としない。

The declassified documents include one backing up another secret agreement under which Japan shouldered 65 million dollars to renovate and relocate U.S. military facilities in Okinawa -- in addition to the 320 million dollars stated in the official agreement on Okinawa's reversion. The document details a dialogue in which an official of the ministry's First North America Division and an official of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo discussed the issue.
　また、沖縄返還協定に記された３億２０００万ドルのほかに米軍施設改良移転費名目で６５００万ドルを日本側が負担するとした密約を裏付ける日本側の文書も初めて見つかった。外務省北米１課担当者と在京米大使館員のやりとりを記した文書だ。

These findings obviously support assertions the experts' panel made in a report submitted to the ministry in March that negotiations on the expenses of the Okinawa reversion lack transparency.
　今年３月に出された外務省有識者委員会の報告書は「沖縄返還に伴う財政経済交渉には不透明な部分が多々ある」と指摘したが、これもそのひとつなのだろう。

The ministry is set to disclose approximately 22,000 files of documents that are still being withheld even though more than 30 years have passed since they were compiled. It is hoped that the details of how Japan footed the expenses of the Okinawa reversion, which is shrouded in mystery, will be clarified in the process of disclosing these documents.
外務省は作成後３０年以上経過しながらまだ公開されていない文書約２万２０００冊について順次公開していくという。その過程で、闇に包まれている財政負担の全貌が明らかになることを望む。

Enthusiasm that the Foreign Ministry has recently shown about disclosing diplomatic documents should be appreciated to a certain extent, but the method of disclosure should be improved. Many members of the public have complained that declassified documents are accessible only at the ministry's Diplomatic Record Office in Tokyo, and that it takes a long time and costs too much money to make photocopies of documents. The ministry should take measures to improve the convenience of accessing such documents.
　外交文書公開での外務省の積極姿勢は評価するが注文もある。東京都内の外交史料館でしか閲覧できないことや、資料の複写に時間がかかり料金が高額なことなどに対する利用者の苦情を耳にする。利便性を高める工夫をしてもらいたい。