Shii speaks at Foreign Correspondents’ Club

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Shii speaks at Foreign Correspondents’ Club

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on May 19 reported on his recent visit to the U.S. on issues of nuclear weapons and U.S. bases in Japan at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.

Shii said that at meetings with U.N. officials and government representatives attending the NPT Review Conference, JCP delegates called for a start of international negotiations for the abolition of nuclear weapons. He expressed that he was happy to see this call was included in a draft report written by the Main Committee I of the NPT Review Conference.

Reporting on the delegation’s activities to deliver to the U.S. government the demands of Okinawans calling for the unconditional return of the U.S. Futenma base and a base-free Okinawa, Shii stressed that the JCP and U.S. government officials agreed on the importance of exchanging opinions even though they have different stances.

In response to a German reporter asking how the increase in the party’s youth membership affects the JCP and the society, Shii said, “I recognize a rise in the political consciousness of young people in regard to issues of employment and peace. We’d like to respond to their needs and build a strong party presence among them,” referring to the 5,200 participants to a May 16 youth rally calling for decent working conditions as well as the 400 young Japanese people he marched with in an anti-nuclear demonstration in Manhattan on May 2.

- Akahata, May 20, 2010