TOKYO: Japan sought answers from the US yesterday over claims it had bugged its key Asian ally, as the list of embarrassing revelations from fugitive intelligence specialist Edward Snowden grows longer.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tokyo was waiting to hear from the US if the allegations of a bug in its Washington embassy were true.
The demand comes as anger continues to grow in Europe over claims that the US had been spying on several European countries, including Germany, and the European Union.
They also come as Snowden, who is still holed up in a Moscow airport, broke his 10-day silence and accused Washington of pressuring foreign capitals to reject his asylum applications. Britain’s Guardian newspaper at the weekend reported top-secret United States National Security Agency documents leaked by Snowden show that United States intelligence services were spying on 38 embassies and diplomatic missions of its allies including the European Union and Japan.
Japan’s more moderate response may reflect its greater dependence on the US, which is treaty-bound to protect it from military attack. Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan is trying to re-heat a relationship that had gone slightly cold under the three-year stewardship of the now-opposition Democratic Party of Japan. AFP
