尖閣沖漁船衝突 事件を総括し危機対応見直せ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 23, 2011)
Learn Senkaku lessons: Beef up crisis control
尖閣沖漁船衝突　事件を総括し危機対応見直せ（1月22日付・読売社説）

Prosecutors in Tokyo and Naha brought two related incidents to their final legal conclusions Friday as they decided to indict neither the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that crashed into two Japan Coast Guard patrol ships off the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture last year nor the former JCG officer who leaked video footage of that incident onto the Internet.
　尖閣諸島沖の中国漁船衝突事件と、元海上保安官によるビデオ映像流出事件の捜査は、元保安官と中国人船長がともに不起訴（起訴猶予）となることで終結した。

There were multiple problems with the entire process of the government's handling of the two cases--from the arrest and release of the Chinese captain to the splash the leaked video made on the Internet.
　中国人船長の逮捕から釈放、さらにビデオ流出に至る過程で、政府の対応には極めて問題が多かった。

The government must now take this opportunity to improve its crisis management and information control policies by fully and closely examining the development of the two cases.
これを機に、政府は事件全体を総括し、危機対応や情報管理の見直しを進めねばならない。

Prosecution authorities decided not to indict the former JCG officer, whose papers had been sent to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on suspicion of violating his duty to preserve secrets under the National Civil Service Law. They did so in consideration of several points, including the fact that every employee at the JCG could view the footage in question due to sloppy handling by the JCG.
　検察当局が、国家公務員法の守秘義務違反の疑いで書類送検されていた元保安官を不起訴にしたのは、問題の映像が海上保安庁のずさんな管理により、海保職員なら誰でも見られる状態にあった点などを考慮したためだ。

The former officer already resigned after he was given a 12-month suspension from duty. This probably also affected the decision.
　元保安官が停職１２か月の懲戒処分を受け、既に辞職したことも影響したのだろう。

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No official revelation

There was no doubt of the illegality of the actions of the Chinese fishing boat that rammed the JCG patrol vessels in Japanese territorial waters.
　日本の領海内で海保の巡視船に体当たりした中国漁船の違法行為は、疑う余地がなかった。

Despite that, the government did not make the video footage recorded by the JCG public immediately after the incident and thus missed the chance to use it to convince the world of the legitimacy of Japan's arrest of the captain.
にもかかわらず政府は、事件直後に映像を公開せず、日本側の正当性をアピールする機会を逃した。

The government continued to refuse to reveal the footage to the general public. Such inaction virtually invited the video leak to occur.
　その後もビデオの一般公開を拒み続け、結果として元保安官によるビデオ流出を招いた。

It is crystal clear that the government made bad judgments.
　政府の判断ミスは明白だ。

Opposition parties passed censure motions against former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku and former Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Sumio Mabuchi in the House of Councillors.
　仙谷由人前官房長官と馬淵澄夫前国土交通相は参院で問責決議を可決された。

In the eyes of the public, some politicians would have to take responsibility for the cases. Thus, it is safe to say that this current of public opinion supported the opposition parties' demands that the two ministers be removed from office.
両者の更迭を求める野党の姿勢を、政治のけじめなしでは済まされない、という世論が支えたと言える。

Clearly, the government must immediately tackle the task of improving its information control system. As the video leak case shows, information can spread across the Internet in the blink of an eye. The government must provide a thorough education in ethics to public servants concerning the handling of information.
　情報管理態勢の整備を急ぐことは言うまでもない。ビデオ映像流出が示す通り、ネット上で情報が瞬時に拡散する時代である。情報の取り扱いに関する公務員の倫理教育も徹底すべきだ。

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Political settlement surely made

Meanwhile, Naha prosecutors said Friday they decided not to indict the Chinese captain for reasons including the fact that there were no injuries in the incident.
　一方、中国人船長については、検察は衝突で負傷者が出なかったことなどを不起訴理由に挙げた。

However, we believe that prosecutors had already decided not to pursue criminal punishment of the captain when he was released and sent back to China, even though the case against him had not officially been dropped at that point.
だが、処分保留のまま釈放し中国に送還した時点で、刑事罰は問わないとの結論を事実上出していたというのが実情だろう。

It is still not known exactly what happened in the process leading up to the captain's release. The government has called it an independent decision by the prosecutors. But we believe a political settlement must have been made on the matter due to pressure from China--including the detention of Japanese company employees in that country.
　釈放の経緯は不透明なままだ。政府は検察独自の判断だったと説明しているが、日本人社員の拘束など中国側の圧力で政治決着が図られたことは間違いあるまい。

We would like the government to seriously consider the fact that it has caused the Japanese people to doubt the independence of the justice system.
　司法の独立に対する不信感を国民に与えたことを、政府は深刻に受け止めてもらいたい。

Another necessary step is the strengthening of the JCG's activities in guarding the nation's territorial waters.
　無論、海保による領海警備も強化する必要がある。

The Senkaku collision case has raised various issues that the government has to consider in the fields of diplomacy and national security.
　漁船衝突事件は、外交・安全保障の面で、様々な課題を突きつけた。

How should Japan build relationships hereafter with China, which is making increasing territorial claims and expanding its military presence on the sea? We again urge the government to study this question from a political viewpoint, learning valuable lessons from the two incidents.
外洋進出を強める中国との関係を今後どう築いていくのか、政治的な観点からも事件を教訓にした検討が改めて求められよう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 22, 2011)
（2011年1月22日01時20分 読売新聞）