Japan's Cabinet yesterday endorsed a proposal to fingerprint and photograph foreigners aged 16 or older entering the country as a way of cracking down on terrorism.
The measure would also oblige incoming aircraft and ship operators to provide passenger and crew lists before arriving, said Chiho Nakai of the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau.
The Cabinet will submit the legislation to parliament this session, Nakai said.
She did not know how many people would be affected; Japan logged 6.6 million foreign entries in 2004, the latest statistics available.
Exempted from being photographed and fingerprinted would be those under 16, permanent residents and those visiting Japan for official purposes or by government invitation, Nakai said.
Some critics, however, say the fingerprinting and photographing violate privacy and discriminate against foreigners. Opposition forced authorities several years ago to stop putting foreign residents' fingerprints on their residency cards.
"Not all terrorists are for-eigners, and even if such a foreigner tries to enter Japan, we may not have physical information about the person in advance," the Japan Federation of Bar Associations said in a statement last December.
But Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura defended the proposed legislation yesterday.
"I don't deny that there are issues of human rights. But you have to consider what is more important when you think about the issue of counterterrorism," he said.
Meanwhile, representatives of minority groups yesterday called for broad anti-discrimination laws to help stop rampant violations of the human rights of minorities and foreigners.
The Constitution prohibits racial discrimination, but activists told reporters in Tokyo that a more comprehensive law is needed to protect human rights.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
RSS