November 6, 2019

The Japanese Communist Party Central Committee on November 4 and 5 held its 8th Plenum at the JCP head office in Tokyo and unanimously approved the draft proposal for amendments to the JCP Program, which will be discussed in the 28th JCP Congress scheduled for January 14-18, 2020.

On the first day, on behalf of the JCP Executive Committee, Chair Shii Kazuo reported on the draft amendment and Secretariat Head Koike Akira and Vice Chair Yamashita Yoshiki explained two draft resolutions prepared for the Congress. Resolution No.1 concerns political tasks to be carried out and No.2 is in regard to party-building efforts. During the two-day discussions on the three documents, 46 members of the Central Committee took the rostrum. On the second day, Shii, Koike, and Yamashita made concluding remarks regarding the discussions concerning the draft proposal and resolutions Nos.1 and.2, and the Plenum unanimously approved the three drafts.

In addition, the Plenum confirmed Yamashita’s proposals on the number of delegates to the 28th Congress and the delegate formula as well as on a schedule for general discussions involving the whole party on the draft of the revised JCP Program and the draft resolutions. Koike proposed an appeal for the need to accelerate the ongoing special party-building campaign for the success of the 28th Congress. The Plenum agreed to Koike’s proposal with clapping.

Shii in his concluding remarks said, “The draft of amendments to the party Program received favorable responses from the floor as well as from party branches across Japan.” Shii explained improvements to the draft to be made based on the discussions at the Plenum and answered questions such as “When did the change in the JCP position regarding China occur?”

Shii pointed out that although the draft amendment is basically about the JCP view on international situations, it is not about some remote countries far away from Japan. Hoping that the revised Program, if adopted, will be actively used in Japanese struggles, he stated that the discussions at the Plenum made it clear that the draft amendment will help and encourage JCP’s daily activists. He noted that there are four important points.

Firstly, Shii said that to view world history from a broad perspective is essential to promote JCP activities with confidence.

Shii pointed out that if people see individual years of the 20th century separately, they would think that it is a century when many people were killed in wars and oppression. He said that however, if observed as a whole, during the 20th century, the human race made great progress. Regarding the 21st century, he said that if one year is randomly selected, it would appear to be filled with grim news, but in the last two decades after the start of the present century, humankind took great steps forward in the fields of the elimination of nuclear weapons, regional cooperation for peace, and protection of human rights. Shii stressed the importance of the broad perspective of world history that underlies the draft amendment to the JCP Program. He said, “To understand this point will greatly help JCP activists carry on with their efforts with determination.”

Secondly, in the midst of "globalization", movements both at home and abroad are directly linked to each other.

Shii pointed out that as cited in the draft amendment, the abolition of nuclear weapons; the protection of international human rights; gender equality; the narrowing of the gap between rich and poor; and the challenge of climate change are examples of major problems facing the world over which the Japanese public also has strong concerns. The draft amendment sees these issues from a broad perspective within the context of the 21st century world and of capitalist contradictions, making clear the prospects of finding solutions to those issues. Shii said, "The draft amendment will greatly help develop the Japanese movement in connection with world trends."

Thirdly, the draft amendment, based on facts and reason, reveals in depth what problems there are with China in terms of international politics. It is significant that the draft amendment no longer sees China as a country that has begun its earnest quest for socialism.

A negative image of socialism caused by China's big-power chauvinism and hegemonism has been an obstacle to a JCP advance. Shii said that the draft amendment can be of great help in dispelling this misconception and bias and enhancing the appeal of the JCP.

At the same time, Shii pointed out that head-on criticism based on facts and reason against China's big-power chauvinism, hegemonism, and human rights violations is not so strong in the international arena. However, Shii highlighted that the JCP has been criticizing present-day China for making wrong moves and that such a JCP effort is important in promoting world peace and progress.

Fourthly, it is also significant that the draft amendment puts forward a proposition that "social changes in a developed capitalist county are the high road to socialism or communism".

Shii said, "The draft amendment calls for an unwavering commitment in the developed capitalist countries to pave the way for socialism and communism." Regarding the ongoing partywide campaign to increase party membership and Akahata readership, Shii said that this campaign will create more conditions in voluntarily promoting social changes and that the campaign will also lead to achieving the largest and best guarantee for social progress in Japan.

Shii in conclusion said, "Our current efforts will help create a future society. Let us make a great leap forward in the JCP!"