“This is a scam to get us to pay our reception fees” – NHK is inundated with criticism over its “Senkaku Islands remarks controversy”， causing panic within the station， with some even suspecting that “they might be spies．”
At around 1:00 p.m. on August 19, a Chinese external staff member reading a script during Chinese-language news broadcasts on NHK’s international radio made an inappropriate remark, saying, “The Senkaku Islands are Chinese territory.” NHK apologized the same day. “The person who made the problematic remarks was a Chinese contract staff member working for an NHK-related organization. The man is reported to be in his 40s and has been working for the organization for about 20 years. On the day that he was in charge of translating manuscripts written in Japanese into Chinese and disseminating them, he made the remarks immediately after reporting on the incident in which graffiti had been vandalized on the stone pillars and their bases at Yasukuni Shrine. Of course, there is no such expression in the original manuscript. On the same day on NHK’s “News Watch 9,” announcer Risa Hayashida explained the situation, saying, “It was inappropriate to broadcast comments that were unrelated to the news, and we deeply apologize. “We will take thorough measures to prevent recurrence,” he read out the apology. “NHK has lodged a strong protest with the relevant organization, and the organization plans to terminate the staff’s contract.” (Weekly magazine reporter) This “broadcast accident” has caused a big uproar within the NHK station. “For some reason, the facts were not made public within the station until the 20th, the day after the accident. It’s probably not intentional, but the higher-ups are panicking. The international broadcasting station where this “broadcast accident” occurred is positioned as a “national project” that broadcasts Japanese culture and affairs to overseas audiences, and therefore receives a large amount of tax money. Therefore, I believe the details will be reported to the Diet. On top of that, what the higher-ups were really worried about was whether the staff member was a spy. There is suspicion that he concealed his ideological background and joined an organization affiliated with NHK, then passed on the information he gained there to his home country. It would be a major issue if a spy were to infiltrate a business that receives a large amount of tax money. “We will be investigating the login information to see what information the staff accessed,” said an NHK official.
X was also inundated with criticism, with comments such as “This is a scam to ask for the reception fee,” “He (the person entrusted with the job) will be treated as a hero in this country,” and “We will report NHK’s achievements (Senkaku Islands) to Xi Jinping.” In order to prevent stations from making unintended statements, we may see more automated voice broadcasts and pre-recordings using AI in the future.
Under the revised Anti-Espionage Law, National Defense Mobilization Law, National Security Law, and National Intelligence Law, Chinese people, whether they are in China, Japan, or America, are spies and terrorists who follow the orders of the Chinese Communist Party. If they do not obey, not only they themselves but their families will go missing.
Is this just a one-off? I can’t help but wonder. Is there really a need for Chinese news using public money? I think disaster prevention broadcasts would be fine.
The Unification Church Liberal Democratic Party is a match-pumping operation that is outsourcing work to China and protecting NHK under the Broadcasting Act.
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