German correspondent condemns Abe gov't intervention over critical reporting

A German correspondent in Tokyo has condemned the government of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's control over critical reporting, asking the country to explain more to people.

Carsten Germis, who works for the Frankfuter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), described how he was subjected to insults from Japanese Foreign Ministry (MOFA) due to one of his article in which he criticized Abe's historical revisionism.

"After the appearance of the article, the paper's (FAZ) senior foreign policy editor was visited by the Japanese consul general of Frankfurt, who passed on objections from Tokyo," Germis said in the latest issue of "Number 1 Shimbun," a journal published by Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan.

According to Germis, the diplomat further insulted him, the editor and the entire FAZ by suspecting he was a paid spy for other countries without any evidence.

The MOFA officials now seemed to openly attack critical reporting compared with the government led by the Democratic Party of Japan, Germis said, adding the ministry was using means such as visa to restrict foreign correspondents.

"The closed-shop mentality of the Japanese political elite and the present inability of the administration leaders to risk open discussion with foreign media doesn't really affect press freedom, " the 56-year-old journalist noted. "There are plenty of other sources to gather information. But it does reveal how little the government understands that in a democracy policy must be explained to the public, and the world." Endi