No. 1291 Law on the Science Council of Japan be Deteriorated
An official attack on the Science Council of Japan by the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has ushered in a new stage when the Suga administration rejected six academicians from being members of the council. The government recently announced a policy to present a bill to the coming ordinary session of the Diet to revise the act to be applied to membership – that is, meddling of the government in the selection process.
GOVERNMENT MUST WITHDRAW THE POLICY
The Cabinet Office announced its ‘policy to review the Science Council of Japan’ on December 6, 2022; it postulates that ‘the Council should share values and timings of affairs with the official bodies, including the government’, accept ‘participation of third parties’ in the selection process, and ensure that ‘necessary steps taken by the government could go accurately and smoothly in terms of appointment by Prime Minister’.
Exactly speaking, ‘the government will intervene in the member selection and other activities so that the Council should conform with the administration’.
Independence and autonomy are crucial
The Science Council of Japan is an academy representing the nation; it is an official organization which independently works on important affairs related to sciences, materializes outcomes in people’s life, and responds and advises to consultations from the government. The Council is legally ‘authorized to function for that purpose’.
Concerning the member selection, candidates whom the Council nominates are appointed by Prime Minister. In the same way as other academies of the world, the entity counts on independence and autonomy for organizational roles and activities.
The preamble of the above-mentioned law provides its mission, saying that ‘being convinced that sciences are bases of a civilized nation, the Council shall, under the agreement of all scientists, work for peaceful rehabilitation of the country, contribute to welfare of the mankind society and dedicate to progress of academic studies in cooperation with conferences of the rest of the world’. Thus, independence and autonomy are duly certified.
Government urges military researches The government and ruling parties, however, try to alter the Council to be an extension arm of the administration, infringing the key principle. They attempt to transform it, which would ‘not commit in military studies’, a result of the sincere remorse over the past wars, to be an organ to explore military affairs.
A new report released by the government’s panel of experts and specialists clearly defines that ‘it is essential to have broad cooperation from the academy and research institutions’ in order to enhance the nation’s defense posture’ and advises that ‘the government and universities & private sectors should be integrated, in a swift way, to form a union so as to involve in R&D’.
The report says in a concrete manner that ‘special places should be set up inside and outside the universities’ and that ‘defense capabilities as a state’s power will be advanced, if a certain body is organized, with involvement of the Ministry of Defense, to exchange cutting-edge technologies by incorporating those from the private sector’.
The so-called newly issued three documents on national security of the Kishida government depend on the guidance of the experts’ panel, showing a stance of a military-first nation. And therefore, it is inconvenient for the administration to have an academy that proclaims to defy military researches.
The Kishida government’s goal to make the country a military power cannot be accepted. Its program to obtain capabilities to attack targets of the adversaries jeopardizes the Japan’s traditional, ‘exclusively defensive posture’. The Cabinet Office’s policy to deteriorate the law on the Science Council of Japan must be withdrawn immediately.
内閣府の「日本学術会議の在り方についての方針」（昨年12月６日）は、「政府等と問題意識と時間軸を共有」し、会員選考で「第三者が参画」、「首相による任命が適正かつ円滑に行われるよう必要な措置を講じる」と明記する。
直訳すれば、「政府に従う学術会議にするために、会員選考や活動などに介入する」となる
独立・自律性こそ
日本を代表するアカデミー（学術団体）である日本学術会議は政府の機関であり、独立して科学に関する重要事項を審議し、その実現を図り、政府の諮問に応え、政府に勧告する「職務及び権限」を法定されている。
そして、会員の選出は学術会議が推薦した候補者を首相が任命する。世界のアカデミーと同じように、日本学術会議も組織と活動の独立・自律性が原則だ。
それは法律の前文で使命を、「科学が文化国家の基礎であるという確信に立って、科学者の総意の下に、わが国の平和的復興、人類社会の福祉に貢献し、世界の学界と提携して学術の進歩に寄与する」と謳っていることからも当然だ。
軍事研究をさせる
政府・自民党は、この原則を侵して日本学術会議を政府の御用機関に改変することを狙う。戦争協力への反省から「軍事研究はしない」とする基本を変質させ、軍事研究する組織にしようというのだ。
防衛力強化に関する政府の有識者会議の報告書は、防衛体制の強化には「広くアカデミアや研究者の協力が必須」で「政府と大学、民間が一体となって研究開発を進める仕組み作りに早急に取り組むべき」と明記している。
具体的には「大学の内外に特別の場を作る」とか、「防衛省が関与し民生技術を取り込み、先端領域の橋渡しをする仕組みができれば、国力としての防衛力は向上する」という。
岸田内閣の新「安保３文書」は有識者会議の提言に基づく体裁を取るが、軍事優先の国家像を打ち出し、「軍事研究はしない」と謳う国家機関としてのアカデミーがあっては不都合というわけだ。
岸田政権がめざす軍事大国化は許されず、敵基地攻撃能力保有は「専守防衛」の否定だ。日本学術会議法の改悪を目論む内閣府の「方針」は、直ちに撤回されるべきだ。
英訳版↓
No. 1291 Law on the Science Council of Japan be Deteriorated
An official attack on the Science Council of Japan by the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has ushered in a new stage when the Suga administration rejected six academicians from being members of the council. The government recently announced a policy to present a bill to the coming ordinary session of the Diet to revise the act to be applied to membership – that is, meddling of the government in the selection process.
GOVERNMENT MUST WITHDRAW THE POLICY
The Cabinet Office announced its ‘policy to review the Science Council of Japan’ on December 6, 2022; it postulates that ‘the Council should share values and timings of affairs with the official bodies, including the government’, accept ‘participation of third parties’ in the selection process, and ensure that ‘necessary steps taken by the government could go accurately and smoothly in terms of appointment by Prime Minister’.
Exactly speaking, ‘the government will intervene in the member selection and other activities so that the Council should conform with the administration’.
Independence and autonomy are crucial
The Science Council of Japan is an academy representing the nation; it is an official organization which independently works on important affairs related to sciences, materializes outcomes in people’s life, and responds and advises to consultations from the government. The Council is legally ‘authorized to function for that purpose’.
Concerning the member selection, candidates whom the Council nominates are appointed by Prime Minister. In the same way as other academies of the world, the entity counts on independence and autonomy for organizational roles and activities.
The preamble of the above-mentioned law provides its mission, saying that ‘being convinced that sciences are bases of a civilized nation, the Council shall, under the agreement of all scientists, work for peaceful rehabilitation of the country, contribute to welfare of the mankind society and dedicate to progress of academic studies in cooperation with conferences of the rest of the world’. Thus, independence and autonomy are duly certified.
Government urges military researches
The government and ruling parties, however, try to alter the Council to be an extension arm of the administration, infringing the key principle. They attempt to transform it, which would ‘not commit in military studies’, a result of the sincere remorse over the past wars, to be an organ to explore military affairs.
A new report released by the government’s panel of experts and specialists clearly defines that ‘it is essential to have broad cooperation from the academy and research institutions’ in order to enhance the nation’s defense posture’ and advises that ‘the government and universities & private sectors should be integrated, in a swift way, to form a union so as to involve in R&D’.
The report says in a concrete manner that ‘special places should be set up inside and outside the universities’ and that ‘defense capabilities as a state’s power will be advanced, if a certain body is organized, with involvement of the Ministry of Defense, to exchange cutting-edge technologies by incorporating those from the private sector’.
The so-called newly issued three documents on national security of the Kishida government depend on the guidance of the experts’ panel, showing a stance of a military-first nation. And therefore, it is inconvenient for the administration to have an academy that proclaims to defy military researches.
The Kishida government’s goal to make the country a military power cannot be accepted. Its program to obtain capabilities to attack targets of the adversaries jeopardizes the Japan’s traditional, ‘exclusively defensive posture’. The Cabinet Office’s policy to deteriorate the law on the Science Council of Japan must be withdrawn immediately.
January 18, 2023