元局長証言 「沖縄密約ない」は崩れ去った

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Dec. 3, 2009)
Govt's denial of Okinawa secret pact lacks weight
元局長証言　「沖縄密約ない」は崩れ去った（12月3日付・読売社説）

Now that a former senior diplomat has admitted in court that he signed a document as part of a secret agreement between Japan and the United States over the 1972 reversion of Okinawa, it appears the government's long-held stance that such a pact did not exist has been toppled.
　「密約」の文書に署名した――と、日本側の当事者が法廷で証言したことで、「密約は存在しない」としてきた従来の政府見解は、完全に崩れ去ったといえるだろう。

Bunroku Yoshino, who was in charge of negotiations with Washington over the reversion at the time, admitted to the existence of a secret agreement during testimony as a witness in an information disclosure lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday.
　１９７２年の沖縄返還を巡る対米交渉の責任者だった元外務省アメリカ局長の吉野文六氏が、東京地裁での情報公開訴訟に証人として出廷し、日米間に密約があったことを明言した。

Yoshino, the then Foreign Ministry's American Bureau chief, had already confessed in interviews with news organizations that there was a secret pact regarding the cost burdens for reverting Okinawa to Japanese rule from U.S. control. But his public testimony in open court carries much more weight.
　吉野氏はこれまでも、報道機関に密約の存在を語っていた。だが、公開の法廷で証言したことは、より重い意味を持つといえる。

The lawsuit was filed by a group of plaintiffs, including former Mainichi Shimbun reporter Takichi Nishiyama, who had been found guilty for his involvement in leaking government documents on the secret pact. Group members demanded the disclosure of documents believed to indicate the existence of the secret pact, but the government said it would not disclose them. The plaintiffs then demanded the government nullify its decision not to disclose the documents.
　訴訟は、密約の存在を示す文書の漏えいに関与したとして有罪となった元毎日新聞記者の西山太吉氏らが起こした。情報公開請求で、密約関連の文書が不開示とされたため、国に不開示決定の取り消しなどを求めている。

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U.S. disclosure made

Yoshino testified in court that Tokyo and Washington made a secret agreement to have Japan shoulder 4 million dollars the United States was supposed to pay to restore farmland in Okinawa that had been used by U.S. forces, as well as 16 million dollars for the transfer of a U.S. shortwave radio station.
　米軍用地の原状回復補償費４００万ドルと米短波放送中継局の国外移転費１６００万ドル。吉野氏は、これらを日本側が肩代わり負担すると極秘裏に米側と合意したと証言した。

During Nishiyama's trial in 1972, Yoshino denied the existence of the secret agreement. But after giving his testimony this week, Yoshino said, "I've come to believe that pursuing the truth about the past will benefit Japan's future."
　吉野氏は７２年、西山氏の公判では、密約を否定する証言をした。今回の証言後、吉野氏は「過去の真実を追求することが、日本の将来のために有益と信じるようになった」と語った。

Thirty-seven years separate Yoshino's two testimonies, and he likely judged that coming out with the truth would not cause any major problems to Japan-U.S. relations or other state affairs.
　前回の証言から３７年が経過している。「真実」を明らかにしても、対米関係などに支障は生じないとの判断もあったのだろう。

A number of official documents that support the existence of bilateral secret pacts have been made public in the United States since 2000. There is no reason for the Japanese government to protect such documents as diplomatic secrets.
　２０００年以降、密約を裏付ける公文書が米国で公開された。日本政府が「外交秘密」として保護する理由はなくなっている。

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Time for reconciliation

Under the initiative of Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, a ministry panel comprising external experts has started investigating and analyzing four secret agreements believed to have been made between the two countries, including the one on the cost burdens of Okinawa's reversion.
　岡田外相の意向で外務省の有識者委員会が、今回の沖縄返還関連を含めた四つの「密約」を対象に調査・分析作業を進めている。

Following Yoshino's latest testimony, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said, "I intend to let the people learn [the truth] by appropriate means when all the facts are confirmed."
　鳩山首相は、吉野氏の証言を受け、「事実関係を確認できた暁には、国民にしかるべき手段でお知らせしたい」と語った。

We hope the government expresses its view on the matter based on a report to be compiled by the panel next month.
来月にまとまる予定の有識者委員会の報告書を踏まえて、政府としての見解を示してもらいたい。

In diplomacy, governments occasionally choose not to make public the content of agreements made with other governments in order to maintain trusting relations and to prevent any damage to national interests that could occur if third-party nations obtained such information. The government needs to explain the circumstances that led to the secret pact Yoshino spoke about.
　外交では、相手との信頼関係の保持や、第三国に知られて国益を損なわないようにするため、合意内容を公にしないことがある。政府は今回の密約を結んだ事情についても説明する必要があろう。

In the United States, diplomatic documents in principle can be disclosed 25 years after being made. In Japan, the Foreign Ministry decides whether to disclose its documents after a certain period. We suggest that disclosure be made as defined by rules that would limit the ministry's discretion on the issue.
　米国では外交文書について、２５年が経過すると原則的に秘密指定を解除する制度がある。日本では一定期間後、外務省が文書公開の是非を判断しているが、外務省任せにせず、一定のルールの下での公開を促進していくべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 3, 2009)
（2009年12月3日00時36分 読売新聞）