February 23, 2023
Japanese Communist Party representative Miyamoto Toru at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on February 22 demanded that the Japanese government make efforts to de-escalate growing tensions between the United States and China.
Miyamoto pointed out that Japan is inseparably tied to China in the economic field and that it is important for Japan to encourage both the U.S. and China to reduce tensions, not to take the side of the U.S. in their power game.
He also pointed out that Japan's military subservience to the United States will add fuel to the U.S.-China arms race. He demanded that Japan, based on the 2022 Japan-China joint statement which states that the two countries are cooperative partners and do not pose a threat to each other, press Washington and Beijing to embark on diplomatic engagement.