People living in Japan, known as the kingdom of information, are frequently perplexed by various kinds of false news spread from somewhere, a latest piece of news went so far as to say that China had launched a missile to offshore of Japan, Global Times reported.
Did China Launch Missile toward Japan?
The matter occurred on the evening of June 30 when Japanese emperor and his wife as well as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi were prepared to view the impending finals between the Brazilian and German teams in the Yokohama international Sports Stadium, a queer item of news suddenly came, this greatly frightened Koizumi then on the competition grounds.
An ex-post report by the Japanese media said that on that evening the Japanese Defense Agency suddenly received warning information to the effect that "China had launched a ballistic missile to the nearby water region near the Amami O-sima Island of Kagoshima." The Defense Agency immediately reported the matter to Koizumi who was watching the World cup football finals, Defense Director General Nakatani Gen and others immediately rushed to the Defense Agency where they were busy themselves with inquiring into the situation and collecting information. Personnel of the crisis control center also went into immediate actions.
The Japanese could not but feel anxious when they associated this with the battle between South Korea and DPRK naval ships happened in the Yellow Sea water area at the time when the Turkey and ROK teams were fighting for the third place in Seoul on the previous day, how terrible it would be if China were launching a ballistic missile toward the water region where a sunken suspicious foreign ship was being salvaged, but before long it was proved through investigation that this was a wrong information
After he was back to his residence, the Japanese Prime Minister told the reporter, "I was very worried, but after I heard it was a false report, I was fully relieved like a heavy load off my mind." As reports said, at about eight o'clock that evening, China conducted a missile emission test in the inland area, because error was made in calculating the orbit by the US army computer, the source of information supplier, so it dispatched the above-mentioned wrong information to Japan.
Japanese Media Incessantly Create False Information About China
Although an end has been declared to the false alarm, the point is why similar false pieces of information about China have frequently happened between Japan and the United States. Last year, there was also a false item of news which, based on a satellite material supplied by the United States, judged that the suspicious ship had entered the Chinese port.
On July 3, a headline article was carried on the front page of a leading Japanese newspaper, saying that in light of the satellite material provided by the United States, the unidentified suspicious ship sunk by Japan last year hadn't entered the Chinese port, but the mother ship which furnished supplies to the suspicious ship had entered the Chinese port. The report added that with the above-mentioned proof, even if China-made products were found on the suspicious ship soon to be salvaged, the suspicious ship could not be said to have entered the Chinese port.
People with discerning eyes can see at a glance that the Japanese media are not washing away China's unrighteous wrong, instead, they are obviously continuing to provide people with a certain kind of unwarranted hint. Slandering China by spreading rumors and fabricating false news and providing false information are the customary tactics of the news media of certain Western countries, but facts prove that this practice does not in the least tarnish China's image, instead, it can only exacerbate the mental burden of the Japanese people who have already been very nervous. If they deliberately try to achieve their aim of certain ulterior motive by concocting false information, that is another pair of shoes.
It is Japan's view that wrong information facilitates the development of domestic missile defense theory. Asahi Shimbun pointed out on July 2 that Japan uses this false information to conceal its intention to promote missile defense. The article notes that the Defense Agency admitted on July 1 that at the football finals of the World Cup on June 30, the information about "China's launch of a ballistic missile toward Japan's offshore" as spread within the government was wrong.
Permanent Deputy Director General in charge of related affairs Ito Yasunani revealed the whole course of the matter at a regular press conference held on July 1. He pointed out, "The US army early warning intelligence acquires the following information: China's missile has been launched and is expected to fall on the offshore of our country. Later we received a correction notice from the US army: The above-mentioned information is a false report." Sources said that at about 7:40 p.m. June 30, the US army stationary satellite on the equator sent early warning information to the central command post of the Defense Agency which was then delivered to the Prime Minister residence and the Foreign Ministry.
Similar wrong report also happened in November last year. In fact, it was the Republic of Korea (ROK) which conducted a short-distance ballistic missile launching test, but the Japanese side, based on the early warning information sent out by the US army, guessed that it was a TaepoDong missile of the DPRK. Many people are worried that the repeatedly occurring false reports would lead to the media's doubt about US army's technologies. But some officials of the Japanese Defense Agency indicate, "The confusion caused by false reports should be transformed into a milestone in the domestic transmission theory of Japan's active participation in missile defense development."
(People's Daily July 10, 2002)
