September 29, 2022

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on September 28 held a talk with Sysay Leudedmounsone, a visiting politburo member of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) who heads the LPRP Central Committee Organization, at the JCP head office.

Shii expressed admiration for the Lao government for having promptly ratified the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Pointing out that Laos still suffers from the inhumane U.S. bombing in Laos during the Vietnam War and that Japan was atomic-bombed during WWII, Shii expressed his hope for JCP-LPRP cooperation to be further developed in working to establish a world free of the use of cruel weapons, including nuclear arms.

Shii said that the JCP pays attention to the efforts ASEAN nations are making, including their Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), to promote regional cooperation for peace. He went on to say that as a means to resolve disputes, the JCP calls for peaceful dialogue, and added, "I'd like you to work together with us in promoting diplomacy."

The LPRP executive responded that common issues will be dealt with through bilateral cooperation as always by expressing her hope that various confrontations in the world will be settled peacefully. Explaining the current situation in Laos, she said that the Lao government is now working hard to restore the nation's economy which was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

They also talked about the promotion of women's empowerment in Laos and the JCP policy of working to create a gender-equal Japan.