January 28, 2013
Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi, in NHK’s debate program broadcast on January 27, criticized a move to relax legal requirements to send the Self-Defense Forces abroad by using as an excuse the hostage-taking incident in Algeria that resulted in the death of ten Japanese nationals.
In the TV program, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Ishiba Shigeru said, “We need to draw a conclusion on discussions on what we can do to what extent within the restrictions of the Constitution while fully considering the sovereignty of the country concerned.”
A lawmaker of the LDP’s coalition partner Komei Party said, “The need is to have a careful consideration of related laws, including the Self-Defense Forces Law. We’d like to carry out a broad-based discussion on this topic.”
As “two lessons” learned from the latest hostage crisis, Ichida first stressed that the Japanese government needs to make diplomatic efforts to have diplomatic missions abroad have close contact with the host nation in order to collect the necessary information to provide for the safety of Japanese nationals.
Stressing the need to bring the criminals into justice as the second lesson, Ichida warned that the use of force would only create a vicious circle of terrorism and revenge.
In the TV program, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Ishiba Shigeru said, “We need to draw a conclusion on discussions on what we can do to what extent within the restrictions of the Constitution while fully considering the sovereignty of the country concerned.”
A lawmaker of the LDP’s coalition partner Komei Party said, “The need is to have a careful consideration of related laws, including the Self-Defense Forces Law. We’d like to carry out a broad-based discussion on this topic.”
As “two lessons” learned from the latest hostage crisis, Ichida first stressed that the Japanese government needs to make diplomatic efforts to have diplomatic missions abroad have close contact with the host nation in order to collect the necessary information to provide for the safety of Japanese nationals.
Stressing the need to bring the criminals into justice as the second lesson, Ichida warned that the use of force would only create a vicious circle of terrorism and revenge.
