JICA Employee Suspected of Leaking Info on ODA Project in Manila; Bidding for Railway Renovation May Have Been Impacted

JICA EMPLOYEE SUSPECTED OF LEAKING INFO ON ODA PROJECT IN MANILA; BIDDING FOR RAILWAY RENOVATION MAY HAVE BEEN IMPACTED

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A Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) employee is suspected of leaking confidential information regarding a project to renovate a railway in the Philippines through official development assistance (ODA), including the estimated cost of the work, to a Tokyo construction consulting firm, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The work was offered by the Philippine government in 2019 through competitive bidding, and a joint venture that included the consulting firm won the contract.

JICA disciplined the employee with a one-month suspension based on its rules of employment, but the act may violate a confidentiality law that employees of JICA are subject to.

JICA is an independent administrative corporation under the Foreign Ministry’s jurisdiction and serves as the Japanese implementing agency for ODA projects. Its staff are quasi-civil servants.

It is extremely unusual for the alleged leakage of confidential information from JICA to come to light. In ODA for developing countries, a recipient country often sets a planned tender price based on an estimate by JICA. As such, it is suspected that the leakage made the bidding process a mere formality.

According to documents obtained by The Yomiuri Shimbun and sources close to the matter, the suspected leak involved the supervision work for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 Rehabilitation Project, which was ordered by the Philippine government as part of a ¥38.1 billion Japanese-government-backed yen loan agreement with Japan.

The Philippine government set the planned tender price based on an estimated cost calculated by JICA from field surveys. JICA apparently invited six Japanese companies, including the consulting firm, to participate in the tender.

The JICA employee who oversaw the work is suspected of leaking JICA’s estimate, as well as details of the work content and manpower plan prepared by the Philippine government, to an employee of the consulting company via multiple emails sent around May 2018.

The yen loan contract was signed in November that year, and the joint venture including the consulting company, another one of the six firms and others won the contract with a bid of around ¥1.7 billion in June 2019. The other four companies did not participate in the bidding.

The MRT project involves rebuilding a section of the Philippine urban railway system and is seen as important for Japan under its policy of expanding the export of infrastructure such as the railway industry. The JICA employee in question likely aimed to secure a contractor in advance to avoid the possible stagnation of the project due to such factors as an unsuccessful bidding process.

JICA announced in July that it had punished an employee for “leaking confidential information about procurement procedures,” but did not reveal the recipient country of the yen loan nor the project concerned. The consulting company said it would not respond to any request for an interview.

Jun Kitajima, a professor at The Graduate School of Social Design and an expert on ODA projects and compliance, said: “The way a JICA employee undermined the bidding process conducted by recipient countries was malicious.” He also described JICA’s reluctance to disclose information on the matter as “inappropriate.”

“Unless the agency explains the details of the leak and takes preventative measures, it could lead to the credibility of Japan’s ODA, with its 70-year history, being called into question.”

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Chinese Social Media Still Full of Anti-Japanese Posts 1 Month After Boy’s Fatal Stabbing; Malicious Videos Gain Large Number of Views

CHINESE SOCIAL MEDIA STILL FULL OF ANTI-JAPANESE POSTS 1 MONTH AFTER BOY'S FATAL STABBLING; MALICIOUS VIDEOS GAIN LARGE NUMBER OF VIEWS

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BEIJING — Even a month after a 10-year-old Japanese boy was fatally stabbed by a Chinese man in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, Chinese social media is still full of anti-Japanese posts.

On Sept. 18, a 44-year-old Chinese man fatally stabbed the boy on a road near a Japanese school.

Anti-Japanese comments on social media are said to have contributed to incidents in China in which Japanese nationals have become victims. Even now, there are still posts on Chinese social media that are hostile to Japanese schools in the country.

A Chinese-language news report released on Oct. 15 quoted a Japanese media source as saying that the Japanese school in Shenzhen resumed face-to-face classes. In response to this report, several unsubstantiated and malicious comments were posted on social media, saying things such as, “When will all the Japanese schools in China be eliminated?” and “They’re bases for training Japanese spies.”

In China, Japanese schools cannot open without the approval of the local government and other authorities, and therefore it cannot be an institution that trains spies, as is being spread on social media. Under Chinese law, textbooks and teaching staff are subject to supervision and checks by the local government.

Online videos that stir up anti-Japanese sentiment tend to get a huge number of views on Chinese social media, and they have been used to attract attention and interest. Chinese authorities can delete unfavorable posts using artificial intelligence. The fact that these malicious posts are not deleted may be because the government overlooks them so people can let off steam.

The Japanese government has requested the Chinese government to crackdown on anti-Japan posts, however, there is little hope that posts hostile to Japanese schools will be removed.

“The [Chinese] government tends to use historical issues when relations between the two countries are not good,” said Prof. Ichiro Korogi of Kanda University of International Studies, who specializes in modern Chinese studies. “It is essential for companies operating in China and individuals to try to protect themselves without making light of the risks.”

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EX-DPRK DIPLOMAT CRITICIZES PYONGYANG OVER NUCLEAR PROGRAM; DEFECTOR SAYS NORTH KOREANS RESENT LEADER'S LUXURIOUS LIFE

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SEOUL — A former North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea last November has sharply criticized Pyongyang for developing nuclear arms at the expense of its people.

“I was ashamed to be a North Korean diplomat,” Ri Il Gyu said during an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun in Seoul on Oct. 2. Ri, 52, is a former political affairs counselor at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba.

He is the second-highest ranking North Korean diplomat to have defected after Tae Yong Ho, a former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom. This is the first time Ri has given an interview to a Japanese media outlet.

When a high-ranking Cuban official visited North Korea in 2018, Ri met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who directly asked him questions.

“I didn’t have a bad impression of him [Kim]. I don’t hate him personally, but his actions are ugly,” Ri said.

Ri accused Kim of subjecting the North Korean people to starvation while he lives a life of luxury. “The dictatorship must collapse. If he thinks it will last forever, he’s making a big mistake,” Ri said harshly.

North Korean people developed a feeling of rejection when they saw a girl who is believed to be Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, wearing expensive clothes and receiving salutes from senior officials when she accompanied him on an inspection tour, Ri said.

The former diplomat said he initially felt proud of the country’s nuclear development, but later realized that people’s lives continued to deteriorate even years after the first nuclear test in 2006.

“The people saw that the nuclear weapons were meant to protect the Kim family,” Ri said. “What people want is food for one meal. They turned their backs on Kim Jong Un,” he said.

LOYALTY DISAPPEARED

There are two types of North Korean diplomats, Ri said. One is the legitimate diplomats sent by the Foreign Ministry or the External Economic Relations Ministry, as well as resident military officials sent by the Defense Ministry. The other is the “unofficial diplomats” who are involved in nuclear weapons production and fundraising.

There were also people at the Cuban Embassy who were in charge of raising money for the nuclear program. They had diplomatic passports, but the Foreign Ministry officials, including the ambassador, were not informed about the details of their work, Ri said.

“[North Korea] does many things that even we find disgusting, but we had to protect that system. How can that possibly lead to pride or loyalty?” he said.

Ri said his monthly salary in Cuba was $500 (about ¥73,000). To make ends meet, he smuggled Cuban cigars.

North Korean diplomats are just like children wearing neckties who live on the streets because they do not get paid enough for the work they do, Ri said.

North Korean diplomats have been met with cold looks overseas, but South Korean diplomats have been welcomed. “I wanted to tell them many times that I was from the South,” Ri said.

He told his wife and child of his plan to defect six hours before he carried it out. He recalled that the hour before boarding the plane at the airport in Cuba in the early morning “felt like 10 years … I checked my watch a hundred times.”

He sent a message to his former colleagues at the North Korean Foreign Ministry, saying, “If it is difficult to make changes from within, I hope you will leave the country and live your only life as a human being.”

PREPARING FOR NEGOTIATIONS 

Regarding the U.S. presidential election in November, Ri believes Kim Jong Un wants former U.S. President Donald Trump to be reelected because the United States may be more interested in North Korea than it has been with the Democrats in power.

The “close ties” between Kim and Trump have been publicized in North Korea. Ri predicted that if Trump were reelected, it would also strengthen Kim’s leadership.

Kim sent a telegram to former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in January to express his condolences over the damage caused by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. Ri believes this was a message that North Korea is ready to deal with the issue of the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents.

North Korea later released an unofficial statement by Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, in which she referred to North Korea’s position that the abduction issue had already been resolved. Kim Yo Jong serves as a deputy director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

Ri believes she dared to raise the issue because she was trying to boost expectations in Japan.

Ri thinks that North Korea had judged that the Kishida administration was close to ending, and thus negotiations did not progress, but that North Korea would explore how the administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba would approach Pyongyang.

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Gundam Statue Completed at Expo Venue on Yumeshima Island, Osaka; Statue Stands 16.72 Meters Tall

GUNDAM STATUE COMPLETED AT EXPO VENUO ON YUMESHIMA ISLAND, OSAKA; 16.72 METERS TALL STATUE STANDS 

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OSAKA — A giant, imposing Gundam statue appeared at the venue of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo on Wednesday.

The statue was assembled by Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., which will exhibit it at next year’s event.

The head of the statue was lifted by crane and attached to the body on the day.

The statue is posed with one knee raised and its arm held high, as if reaching out to space and the future.

From its fingertips to its base, the statue stands 16.72 meters tall.

Next to the Gundam statue, construction is underway on a pavilion depicting the world of the popular anime “Mobile Suit Gundam.”

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The Saga International Balloon Fiesta 2024

 

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JAPANESE FISHING BOAT ILLEGALLY ENTERED TERRITORIAL WATERS - CHINA SAYS

JAPANESE FISHING BOAT ILLEGALLY ENTERED TERRITORIAL WATERS - CHINA SAYS

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BEIJING

China's coast guard said Thursday that a Japanese fishing vessel "illegally entered" China's territorial waters around Diaoyu Islands on Oct 15-16 and was warned to leave.

"We urge the Japanese side to immediately stop all illegal activities in these waters," a coast guard spokesperson said in a statement.

The coast guard said it would continue to carry out maritime rights protection and law enforcement activities in waters under its jurisdiction.

Japan rejects China's claims to the islands and over the past few months the two countries have had a number of confrontations in the area.

Back in June, Japan lodged a protest against Beijing after it said Chinese vessels carrying what appeared to be cannons had entered its territorial waters in the East China Sea surrounding the disputed islands, which Tokyo calls the Senkaku and Beijing calls the Diaoyu.

Weeks later, Japan lodged another protest after one of China's naval survey vessels entered Japanese waters. An uptick in Chinese military activity near Japan and around Taiwan in recent years has stoked concerns in Tokyo.

China has also had a number of altercations with the Philippines over disputed waters in the South China Sea. Beijing claims sovereignty over nearly the entire area.

A Hague arbitration tribunal ruled in 2016 that Beijing's claim to 90% of the South China Sea had no basis in international law.

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JAPAN CONFIRMS FIRST BIRD FLU OUTBREAK OF SEASON - HOKKAIDO SAPPORO JAPAN

JAPAN CONFIRMS FIRST BIRD FLU OUTBREAK OF SEASON - HOKKAIDO SAPPORO JAPAN 

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SAPPORO

Japan confirmed on Thursday the season's first avian influenza outbreak, with authorities identifying around 19,000 birds for culling at a poultry farm on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido and implementing quarantine measures for nearby farms.

After the farm in Atsuma, southern Hokkaido, reported its birds were dying from disease the previous day, a genetic test confirmed they were infected with a highly contagious strain of the virus, the Hokkaido government said.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday instructed government agencies to take swift action to contain the epidemic and ordered them to request business operators to take strict precautionary measures.

Authorities restricted the movement of around 710,000 birds at five poultry farms located within a 10-kilometer radius of the farm in question.

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KUMAMOTO CASTLE FLOATS IN ARTIFICIAL SEA OF CLOUDS - KHUSYU KUMAMOTO PREFETURE JAPAN

KUMAMOTO CASTLE FLOATS IN ARTIFICIAL SEA OF CLOUDS - KHUSYU KUMAMOTO PREFETURE JAPAN

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KUMAMOTO

Kumamoto Castle, a popular tourist destination in southwestern Japan, appears to be floating in a sea of clouds after its host city started generating them on Friday for a limited-time event, giving the castle's famous stone walls a different look.

Through Nov 4, pure white mist, made using water partly taken from the castle's old well, will emerge around the steeply curving stone walls of the main tower of the castle, which is undergoing repair work after a pair of massive earthquakes in 2016, according to the Kumamoto municipal government.

The scene, which features one of the largest artificial sea of clouds in Japan, appears between 9:10 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., and visitors who have paid to enter the castle can view it from a special observation path, set up for people to see the progress in the castle's reconstruction work.

After sunset, the castle's main tower and the clouds will be lit up in blue, in the image of water, according to the municipal government, which had been looking for fresh ways to utilize the old samurai fortress completed in 1607.

It decided on the project after observing an event at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ninnaji Temple in Kyoto, which also utilized an artificial sea of clouds.

"It's an attempt to upgrade the splendor of Kumamoto Castle. I hope many people will see it," said Yasuhiro Iwasa, a municipal government official.

The massive earthquakes in April 2016, measuring the highest reading of 7 on the country's seismic intensity scale, caused roof tiles and decorative ornaments to fall off and other structures in Kumamoto Castle park such as stone walls to crumble or completely collapse.

While the main tower of the castle reopened to the public in 2021, the restoration of the whole castle park is expected to be completed around 2052, 15 years later than initially planned.

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ISHIBA SAYS JAPAN WILL PREPARE FOR 'ANY DEVELOPMENT' OVER TAIWAN - TOKYO JAPAN

ISHIBA SAYS JAPAN WILL PREPARE FOR 'ANY DEVELOPMENT' OVER TAIWAN - TOKYO JAPAN

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TOKYO

Japan will prepare for "any development" over the situation surrounding Taiwan, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Monday, as China conducted large-scale military drills around the island.

"Peace and security in and around the Taiwan Strait are an extremely important issue for the region. Japan will carefully monitor the situation," Ishiba told reporters. "We will prepare to respond to any development."

Earlier in the day, Ishiba met with his defense and foreign ministers.

"We will be watching (the Chinese exercises) with great interest," Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters after the meeting at the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Nakatani also said there is a possibility that missiles will fly into waters near Japan and that the Self-Defense Forces will take every precaution to gather information and monitor the situation.

The Chinese military conducted the drills as "a stern warning" to those seeking Taiwan's independence, ratcheting up pressure after the territory's President Lai Ching-te reiterated last week that the two sides are not subordinate to each other.

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VOTERS IN NOTO HIT BY QUAKE, RAIN CALL FOR SUPPORT TO REBUILD - KANAZAWA, ISHIKAWA JAPAN

VOTERS IN NOTO HIT BY QUAKE, RAIN CALL FOR SUPPORT TO REBUILD - KANAZAWA, ISHIKAWA JAPAN

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KANAZAWA, Ishikawa

Voters in Ishikawa Prefecture, struck by a strong earthquake on the Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day, are calling for government support for swift reconstruction, but some have lamented that "now is not the time for elections" given the region was also hit by record heavy rainfall last month.

At the Wakura Onsen hot spring resort in Nanao, one of the areas significantly affected by the Jan. 1 earthquake, staff from shuttered "ryokan" inns and others in the tourism industry listened to stump speeches by candidates in the upcoming House of Representatives election, advocating for reconstruction.

"If the inns do not reopen, the town will not regain its vitality. I want support to quickly restore our former hot spring town," said 88-year-old Tazuko Tada.

A fisherman in his 80s at a water supply station in Suzu expressed frustration that the city, hit hard by both the earthquake and torrential rains, was once again experiencing water outages, with many locals having left since.

With the earthquake rendering the port unusable due to coastal uplift, he said, "I won't be able to earn a single yen as things stand now. I hope efforts will focus on restoring the fishing port."

After losing his home in Wajima to the earthquake and moving to an evacuation center when heavy rains flooded his temporary housing last month, Yoshiaki Sakakado, 61, said he felt "unmotivated to go vote" as his car had been submerged.

According to Wajima officials, polling station tickets are typically sent only to the address listed on a voter's residency certificate and are not sent to evacuation centers. It may not be widely known that voting is still possible without the ticket, as long as the voter's identity can be confirmed.

"I wasn't aware," said a 62-year-old man living at an evacuation center, adding with resignation, "It's not as if anything will change with the election, and I don't know what to hope for."

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31 TRAFFIC SUMMONSES ISSUES IN BAU KUCHING DURING ' OP KHAS MOTOSIKAL ' - BAU SARAWAK

31 TRAFFIC SUMMONSES ISSUES IN BAU KUCHING DURING ' OP KHAS MOTOSIKAL ' - BAU SARAWAK

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KUCHING, SARAWAK (OCTOBER 13, 2024): A total of 31 traffic summonses were issued on various offences during ‘Op Khas Motosikal’ held in Bau yesterday evening.

Bau district police chief DSP Dr Daram Ruer said the operation involved several locations, including Bau town, Jalan Bau-Lundu (Sibuluh), Jalan Bau-Krokong, Jalan Bau-Batu Kawa (Musi area), and Jalan Bau-Singai.

“During the operation, the Bau district Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department detained five motorcycles under Section 60 of the Road Transport Act 1987 and inspected a total of 28 motorcycles, while 31 individuals were checked around the Bau market area.

“Throughout the operation, a total of 31 summonses of various offences were issued. These included nine summonses for having no side mirrors; six for not having  motorcycle plate numbers; six for illegal modifications; five for plate numbers not according to regulations and five for not having driver’s licence,” he said in a statement today.

Daram urged road users, especially motorcyclists, to abide by the rules and regulations and to emphasise personal safety.

Meanwhile, those with information regarding road bullies in Bau can contact the district police’s Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department at 082-763311.

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