TOKYO: The WikiLeaks website published documents Friday that it said shows the US government spied on Japanese officials and companies.
The documents include what appear to be five US National Security Agency reports, four of which are marked top-secret, that provide intelligence on Japanese positions on international trade and climate change. They date from 2007 to 2009.
WikiLeaks also posted what it says is an NSA list of 35 Japanese targets for telephone intercepts including the Japanese Cabinet office, Bank of Japan officials, Finance and Trade Ministry numbers, the natural gas division at Mitsubishi and the petroleum division at Mitsui.
The validity of the documents could not be independently verified, though WikiLeaks has released US government documents many times in the past.
Japanese Foreign Ministry press secretary Yasuhisa Kawamura said Japan and the United States are in communication about the issue of NSA “information collection” but declined to provide details. He added that “Japan will continue to employ all the necessary measures to protect (its) information.”
The US Embassy in Tokyo said it was aware of the report but wouldn’t say anything further. Mitsui also declined comment, and Mitsubishi did not return a call.
Three of the apparent NSA reports deal with climate change, and the other two with agricultural trade issues, including US cherry exports to Japan.
A notation on one of the top-secret reports on climate change before the 2008 G-8 summit is marked for sharing with Australia, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand, according to WikiLeaks. It’s not clear if it was actually shared.
WikiLeaks has released similar documents in recent weeks that it said show NSA spying on Germany, France and Brazil.
US spying on its allies became an issue in 2013, when WikiLeaks released documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that showed the NSA had been eavesdropping on the cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
WikiLeaks: US spied on Japan govt, firms
WikiLeaks: US spied on Japan govt, firms
Syrian president ‘no longer attending’ Davos, sources confirm
- Participants were keen to listen to Ahmed Al-Sharaa, but understand domestic challenges back home
DAVOS: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has canceled plans to attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos this week, according to a senior member of the WEF.
Many attendees Arab News spoke to at the Congress Centre were disappointed with the decision as his participation in high-level diplomacy and economic sessions would have been a milestone that marked the first attendance by a Syrian head of state at the forum.
Many had hoped to listen to the president speak first hand about the impressive reforms and investments opportunities in Syria but understood there are domestic challenges back in Damascus.
“With everything going on in recent weeks in the Middle East, it was expected that Al-Sharaa will probably not make it,” one participant told Arab News.
Syrian government forces have intensified operations against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) across multiple governorates — including Aleppo, Raqqa and Hasakah — with frequent exchanges of fire reported even as temporary truces are brokered.
Last year, Syria’s freshly-appointed foreign minister Asaad Al-Shibani flew into Davos as part of efforts by the forum to reintegrate Syria into global political and economic conversations following years of isolation under the Assad regime.
Al-Sharaa’s cancelled Davos trip follows weeks of diplomatic and military pressures. His transitional government, which took power after overthrowing long-time leader Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, has actively sought international recognition, winning incremental sanctions relief and engaging Western partners.
