U.S. Intelligence Has Spied on 35 Japan Targets, Including Cabinet: WikiLeaks

Washington, July 31 (Jiji Press)--The U.S. National Security Agency has spied on 35 targets in Japan, including the Cabinet Office, the Bank of Japan, the Ministry of Finance and major companies, WikiLeaks said Friday. "NSA spying on Japanese conglomerates, government officials, ministries and senior advisers extends back at least as far as the first administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which lasted from September 2006 until September 2007," the website specializing in leaked information said in a press release. According to the announcement, the U.S. intelligence's "Target Tokyo" telephone interception list includes the Cabinet Office, the executive secretary to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, a "government VIP line," numerous officials of the central bank and the MOF, including BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoichi Miyazawa, the natural gas division of trading house Mitsubishi Corp. <8058> and the petroleum division of another major trader Mitsui & Co. <8031>. The home phone number of at least one BOJ official is also on the list. WikiLeaks also disclosed five "NSA intercepts" regarding Japan's relations with the United States, positions in free trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization and sensitive climate change strategy. One of the NSA reports from intercepts of senior government officials says that the Japanese Foreign Ministry "was considering not informing the U.S. in advance" of Abe's intention to announce the goal of halving global carbon emissions by 2050. Abe hammered out the ambitious target in a speech in May 2007. Four of the five reports "are classified TOP SECRET," and one of them appears to have been authorized for release to the United States' "Five Eyes" intelligence partners of Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, WikiLeaks noted. It has already come to light that the NSA spied on France and Germany, also allies of the United States. END