MOSCOW – Japan’s parliament approved a bill today that will toughen the rules for the sale and use of land plots around strategically important facilities in terms of national security, such as military bases and nuclear plants, Sputnik quoted Japanese media reports.
As reported by the Kyodo news agency, the bill was approved by a majority vote but opposed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, whose deputy Hideya Sugio called the legislation “defective.”
“It is necessary to take all possible measures to prevent security risks in the future,” the minister in charge of territorial issues, Hachiro Okonogi, was quoted as saying.
The bill was initiated after Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and a government panel asked for stronger restrictions with regard to foreign institutions owning land near major airports and bases of the Japan Self-Defence Forces.
It proposes establishing a so-called observation zone of 1km around strategically important infrastructure. Land categorised as such will reportedly be considered under government watch, and the government will be able to collect all information regarding current or past owners and ban land transactions.
Parties wishing to purchase the land will have to provide the government with their personal details, such as nationality, reasons as to why they would like to purchase the land, and what they would use it for, according to the report. – Bernama, June 16, 2021
