Japan Establishes New Foreign Intelligence Agency Due to China and Regional Threats

Japan has accelerated its efforts to establish a new foreign intelligence agency due to China's increasing military activities and changing security balances in East Asia.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration aims to increase the country's capacity to collect direct information on developments abroad and transform the current dispersed intelligence structure into a more centralized system.

Takaichi chaired the first meeting of the committee consisting of 17 experts on September 28.

In addition to preparing Japan's new national intelligence strategy, the committee is also discussing how to structure a new agency that will systematically collect information abroad.

The Takaichi administration considers strengthening intelligence collection and analysis capacity as an "extremely urgent" need.

SPREADED STRUCTURE IS COLLECTED IN A SINGLE CENTER

Intelligence activities in Japan have been carried out separately by the police, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other public institutions for many years.

However, the inability to adequately integrate the information collected by different institutions in a single center makes it difficult for the country to make a common and comprehensive assessment of security threats.

In order to solve this problem, the Japanese Parliament passed the law reorganizing the intelligence system in May.

Within the scope of the regulation, the National Intelligence Council and the National Intelligence Bureau were established.

The National Intelligence Bureau, which officially became operational on July 31, is responsible for gathering, evaluating and presenting information obtained by different government institutions to the government.

The new foreign intelligence agency planned to be established will, on the other hand, focus directly on developments outside Japan.

The new structure is aimed to collect information from human sources in foreign countries and expand Japan's intelligence network abroad.

CONCERNS ABOUT CHINA, NORTH KOREA AND RUSSIA

One of the main reasons behind Japan's new intelligence structure is the military and political mobility in the region.

Prime Minister Takaichi draws attention to the increasing military capacity of China and North Korea and the deepening of cooperation between China and Russia and Russia and North Korea.

The Tokyo administration also sees attempts by foreign intelligence services to access advanced technology, cyber attacks and disinformation activities aimed at influencing public opinion as national security threats.

One of the areas given the most importance in Japan's new plan is the HUMINT capacity, which refers to the collection of intelligence from human sources.

Tokyo considers that satellite systems, electronic monitoring and other technical methods do not provide sufficient information on all matters.

It is stated that human resources are of critical importance, especially for understanding the intentions of foreign governments, decision-making processes and behind-the-scenes political developments.

For this reason, the new organization is expected to establish networks working directly with human resources abroad.

CIA AND MI6 SIMILAR MODEL

The new structure discussed in Japan is being compared to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the UK's foreign intelligence service MI6.

It is stated that the government aims to put the new foreign intelligence agency into operation in the 2027 or 2028 fiscal year.

If the organization is established, Japan will move from its structure, which has been largely based on intelligence received from its allies for many years, to a more independent model.

It is evaluated that the new structure may also increase intelligence sharing with Japan's Western allies.

Tokyo has significantly improved its security cooperation in recent years, especially with the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

It is stated that Japan's increasing its own intelligence capacity may pave the way for closer cooperation with the Five Eyes network, consisting of the USA, England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

REACTION FROM CHINA

Beijing administration, on the other hand, reacts to Japan's increase in intelligence and defense capacity.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs evaluated the establishment of the National Intelligence Bureau as one of the negative developments in Japan's security policy.

While the Chinese administration associates Tokyo's expansion of its military and intelligence capacity with the trend of "remilitarization", Japan argues that these steps are taken against the increasingly challenging regional security environment.

If the new organization is implemented, Japan will aim to collect more comprehensive information from its own sources regarding the political, military and strategic activities of foreign countries, rather than relying solely on information from its allies.