中国的政府和科学家们，你们是怎么想的呢？

The role of scientific advice in policy-making. Scientificknowledge is an essential element in the policy-making process, and thegovernment must duly respect it. At the same time, scientific advisers mustrecognize that scientific knowledge is not the sole basis of governmentdecision-making.

Seeking scientific advice in a timely and pertinent manner.The government  shall endeavor to identify policy issues thatrequire scientifi c knowledge in a timely and pertinent manner and act toacquire the best scientific knowledge available.

Ensuring the independence of scientific advisers. Thegovernment must not intervene in the activities of scientific advisers. As a meansto ensure objectivity and fairness, scientific advisers shall declare their ownconflicts of interest.

Awareness of responsibility as scientific advisers. Scientistsshall always provide scientific advice for the public welfare and with theawareness of the large influence scien-tifi c advice has on the process of publicpolicy formulation.

Achieving broad perspectives and balance.When the government seeks scientific advice, it should strive to secure theparticipation of scientists with appropriate insight and experience matched tothe nature of the issues and to obtain balanced advice based on broadperspectives.

Ensuring the quality of advice and integrating viewpoints. Scientific advisers shall strive fora balanced treatment of observational and experimental results and of cited papersand should seek to improve the quality of scientific advice through peer review.The Science Council of Japan and academic societies shall, where appropriate,endeavor to present high-quality scientific advice by integrating views of thenation’s scientific community. The government shall ensure, as needed, thatscientific knowledge used in policy-making has gone through independent peerreview by qualified experts.

Proper handling of uncertainty and diversity.Scientific advisers shall provide policy-makers with clear explanations of uncertaintiesand diversity of views associated with scientific knowledge. The governmentshall respect such uncertainties and diversity of views.

Free disclosure of scientific knowledge.In principle, scientific advisers are free to make their scientific knowledgepublic. They shall do so responsibly, however, in awareness of the large influencethat scientific knowledge can have on policy-making and public opinion, as wellas on society as a whole.

Even-handed treatment of scientific advice by the government. The government must treat withfairness the scientific knowledge it acquires. It must not approach scientificadvice with any preconception, distort scientific knowledge when making itpublic, or intentionally add wrong interpretations when using advice inpolicy-making. The government should explain how scientific advice was consideredwhen drawing up policy. It is especially important for the government to explainthe rationales when making policy decisions that are in conflict with the scientificadvice obtained.

Ensuring transparency of the scientific advice process. To improve the quality and reliabilityof policy-making based on scientific advice, the government shall ensure transparencyof the scientific advice process. This draft of principles is intended as a startingpoint for discussion among a wide range of stakeholders in Japan. It is hoped that,through such discussion, the principles will be finalized, and relevantorganizations will draw up and implement their own guidelines, reflecting thecharacteristics of their respective missions.

Ensuring the effectiveness and integrityof science in policy-making is a complex problem. In promoting relevant efforts,particularities of diverse policy and scientific fields must be given dueconsideration. Also, the approach to this problem should vary depending onnational differences in political systems and scientific traditions. That is whyall stakeholders from all nations should actively participate in this endeavor andadvance dialogue. Such a concerted effort will not be easy to organize andmanage. But that is exactly what is needed now, as we have entered the age ofintense, intricate interaction between science, technology, and the globalizedsociety.