Japan’s NHK Apologizes for Chinese News Presenter’s ‘Inappropriate’ Remarks on Senkaku Islands, Other Sensitive Issues

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:11 JST, August 27, 2024

NHK issued an apology Monday for “inappropriate” remarks regarding the Senkaku Islands and other issues made earlier this month by a former contracted employee with Chinese citizenship during a live Chinese-language news report on an international radio program.

“This is an extremely serious situation in which we failed to fulfill our responsibilities under the Broadcasting Law, and we deeply apologize,” NHK said in a special program broadcast on its general channel Monday evening.

The public broadcaster said it is also investigating whether the former staff member made other such unscripted remarks in past news broadcasts.

On Aug. 19, the man had just read a scripted report on the defacing of a stone pillar with graffiti at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine on NHK’s international radio program when he added in Chinese, “The Senkaku Islands are Chinese territory.”

He then went on to urge listeners in English to never forget the 1937 “Nanjing Massacre” and the former so-called comfort women of World War II. He spoke for a total of about 20 seconds off the script.

The incident occurred during the broadcast from around 1 p.m. on the NHK World-Japan and Radio 2 channels. NHK reported about the “inappropriate remarks” on its website later that day.

On Aug. 21, the external organization that employed the man reported that it had terminated his contract.

On its Monday program, NHK reiterated the Japanese government’s position that the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture are a territory inherent to Japan, and the issue of former so-called comfort women had been resolved with the South Korean government.

NHK also stated the man’s remarks violated the public broadcaster’s international programming standards, which stipulate that its programs should accurately convey important government policies and public views on international issues as well as trends in public opinion in the country.

The content of Monday’s special program was later also broadcasted in the Chinese-language news report on NHK’s international radio program.

It was later found that the man added unscripted comments to the news report on the Yasukuni graffiti as well, adding that it included “words of protest including ‘militarism’ and ‘die.’” According to NHK, such words were actually painted on the pillar, and it figures the man had seen other news footage of the graffiti prior to the broadcast.

NHK had announced that in regard to his remark on the Senkaku Islands, the man said he was protesting “NHK’s historical revisionism.” It has revised that announcement, saying the protest was against “NHK’s historical revisionist propaganda.”

Hayashi: Remarks ‘deplorable’

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi called the remarks on the Senkaku Islands and other matters “deplorable.”

Speaking at a press conference Monday, Hayashi said the comments were “totally incompatible with the position of Japan” and urged NHK to prevent a recurrence of such a situation.