Issued December 4, 2016. A record and analysis of a lecture at the University of California, Irvine by David Kaye and Alexis Dudden, examining claims about press freedom in Japan, the State Secrets Protection Act, and whether the event can be seen as part of a broader effort to undermine the Abe administration.

Is it too far-fetched to view this lecture as part of an effort planned by the United Nations and a certain neighboring country to bring down the Abe administration
2016-12-04
All emphasis in the text, except for the title, is mine.
A lecture by Mr. Kaye and Ms. Dudden at the University of California, Irvine (UCI)
GAHT-US (Global Alliance for Historical Truth)
Representative Koichi Mera
I learned through a notification from Nadeshiko Action that on May 12, 2016, there would be a presentation about Japan by David Kaye of the law faculty, who had been appointed as a UN Special Rapporteur and investigated the state of “freedom of the press” in Japan (he holds the qualification of a clinical professor because he became a professor through practical experience), and by Professor Alexis Dudden of the University of Connecticut. Because this was a combination of a UN Special Rapporteur who had recently issued severe criticism of Japanese media and a historian who has made extremely harsh statements about Japan, I attended with great interest.
In one of the buildings on the relatively new but spacious and relaxed UCI campus, desks were arranged in a square in a conference room, and there were about twenty participants. Aside from a few graduate students, the attendees appeared to be professors from other universities and other faculties. The presentation began with Professor Dudden’s claim that the “State Secrets Protection Act” infringes on citizens’ right to know. In response, Mr. Kaye developed the argument that recent statements by Minister Takaichi, applying the Broadcast Act and saying that “the media may be sanctioned,” restrict freedom of the press. Despite his stay in Japan lasting only one week, this UN Special Rapporteur delivered the above criticisms as if he were thoroughly familiar with the state of Japan’s media. Mr. Dudden argued that although the “State Secrets Protection Act,” which came into force in 2014, applies only to public officials who must protect specific secrets within the government, it nonetheless suppresses information by the will of the Japanese government and should therefore be criticized.
I asked Mr. Kaye whether he knew the actual state of media bias in Japan. I also asked whether he could disclose the list of people he met in Japan. Furthermore, I pointed out that in Japan there are no restrictions, unlike in the United States, on the ownership of media organizations by foreigners or foreign entities, but I received no satisfactory answers on any of these points.
What these two have in common is that they emphasize that under the Abe administration freedom of the press is being suppressed in Japan, that Japan is therefore heading down a dangerous path, and that they are cooperating with those who aim to bring down the Liberal Democratic Party administration. Incidentally, Mr. Kaye has little academic achievement, but is a law school graduate who entered teaching through practical experience at the State Department and has experience teaching in China. Therefore, is it too far-fetched to view this lecture as part of an effort planned by the United Nations and a certain neighboring country to bring down the Abe administration.
<Reference Sites>
Japan Business Press 2016.5.11 (Wed) Yoshihisa Komori
Where is the fairness? A UN Special Rapporteur who lends a hand to Japan-bashing
David Kaye openly debates as the spearhead of anti-Japan sentiment
http://jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/46808
Access Asia Spring 2016
http://accessasia.journalofasianstudies.org/index.php/18-presentations/spring-2016/4-spring-2016
May 12: Alexis Dudden (Professor of History, UConn) and David Kaye
(Professor of Law, UCI, and UN Special Rapporteur),