Japan revamps rules on handling spy approaches

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

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 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 inflamed 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.