Japan calls reports of US spying 'deeply regrettable'

Japan has described claims that the United States spied on Japanese politicians and major firms as "deeply regrettable” in its first official response to revelations by the whistleblower group WikiLeaks.

The latest WikiLeaks intercepts exposing U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) activities follow other documents that revealed spying on allies including Germany and France.

"I will withhold comment. But If this is true, as an ally, it's deeply regrettable," Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesperson, said on Monday.

He said Japan was checking with the U.S. on the WikiLeaks report issued on Friday.

Japan is a key U.S. ally in the Asia-Pacific region and the two countries regularly consult on defense, economic and trade issues.

"We have strongly requested intelligence director Clapper confirm the facts," Suga said, referring to James Clapper, U.S. Director of National Intelligence.

Claims that Washington spied on Japanese trade officials, among others, came just as delegates negotiating a vast free-trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) failed to reach a final deal after several days of intense talks in Hawaii.

The U.S. and Japan are the two biggest economies in the 12-nation negotiations, but they have sparred over key issues including the auto sector access and whether to open up Japan's protected agricultural markets.

WikiLeaks said the intercepts showed the U.S. had "intimate knowledge of internal Japanese deliberations" on trade issues, nuclear policy, and Japan's diplomatic relations with the US.

"The reports demonstrate the depth of U.S. surveillance of the Japanese government, indicating that intelligence was gathered and processed from numerous Japanese government ministries and offices," it said.

Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, did not appear to be a direct target of phone tapping but senior politicians were.

Yoichi Miyazawa, Japan's trade minister; Haruhiko Kuroda, Bank of Japan governor; and officials of Mitsubishi company were in the sights of U.S. intelligence, WikiLeaks said.

Agence France-Presse