  For a greater movement for peace and co-existenceAkahata editorial An Asia-Africa Summit will be held from April 22-24 in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. On April 24, the participating leaders will move to Bandung to attend a ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference. Asian and African leaders are to discuss ways to revive the spirit of Bandung, thus arousing expectations that the movement for peace, national self-determination, and co-existence will gather momentum with the Ten Principles of Bandung established 50 years ago as its guide. Majority of U.N. members Affirming the United Nations Charter's call for peace, respect for fundamental human rights, sovereign equality, and resolution of international disputes by peaceful means, the 10 Principles of Bandung elaborated these principles by setting forth the right to self-determination that includes disarmament, the abolition of nuclear weapons, and independence of colonial and dependent countries. Discussions at the time focused on relations these countries should have with U.S.-led military alliances and with the Soviet Union. Despite differences over these issues, the 10 Principles of Bandung were finally agreed upon, thanks to the enthusiasm expressed by countries that freed themselves from colonial rule and achieved independence after WW II as well as to their earnest discussion arriving at the conclusion that they should determine their own destiny. The 1955 Bandung Conference was attended by 29 members (including Vietnam divided into the North and South). This year's summit will have 106 countries participating. The number is more than half of the 191 United Nations members, accounting for 75 percent of the world population. The increase in the number of participating countries is an indication that the weight of Asian and African countries in the international community has increased in the last 50 years. Many countries in Africa achieved independence after the 1955 Bandung Conference. With the Bandung Conference as the starting point, newly independent countries began to adopt the position of non-alignment. Based on the U.N. Charter, they have gathered strength in the effort to defend world peace against the tyranny of major powers. The situation in each country that participated in the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference has changed. The military alliances that Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran had with the U.S. ceased to exist. Vietnam achieved independence and unity after defeating the U.S. invasion. Thailand and the Philippines dismantled U.S. military bases. They are promoting peaceful cooperation based on the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) and other frameworks. China and India, which used to fight each other in border disputes, are improving their relations. Today, the international principles of respecting national sovereignty and independence are regarded as a matter of course. In the vast areas of Asia and Africa, plus Central and South America, which embrace about 80 percent of the world population, a tide of peace has increased to the extent that it does not allow the rule of superpowers. Unlike the era of "U.S.-Soviet confrontation," moves in defense of the peaceful international order under the U.N. Charter have spread across the world. In the present-day world, there are many problems to be solved, including the abolition of nuclear weapons, resolution of civil wars and famines, the effort to overcome invasion, suppression, division, environmental protection, and eradication of poverty. In order to resolve these matters peacefully and fairly, the "Bandung spirit" must be given full play. Japan's role Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro, who will attend the Asia-Africa Summit, must act as one of the member states to the 1955 Conference in conformity with the 10 principles of Bandung. Dispatching the Self-Defense Forces in support of the U.S. war of aggression against Iraq or scheming to amend Article 9 of the Constitution with the aim of remaking Japan into "a war-fighting nation" are contrary to this spirit. Japan is now called upon to establish its diplomacy based on the principles of sovereign independence and peace, so that it can contribute to establishing an international order for peace in accordance with historic changes taking place in the vast areas of the world. (Akahata April 18, 2005) |