August 15, 2016
Commemorating the 71st anniversary of the end of World War II, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira issued the following statement on August 15.
On the 71st anniversary of the end of WWII, the JCP expresses its deep condolences to domestic and foreign victims of the war of aggression and colonial rule caused by Japanese militarism. The JCP also renews its resolve to work hard to protect Article 9 of the Constitution which the Japanese people established after experiencing the ravages and tragedies of war and to build a peaceful Japan which makes full use of the Constitution.
The Abe government has been rushing toward undermining Japan’s pacifism, the very foundation of the Constitution. With the Cabinet decision to enable Japan’s exercise of the collective self-defense right and the forcible enactment of the national security legislation (war legislation), Japan is on track to become a nation that engages in wars abroad. In addition, Prime Minister Abe has become obsessed with constitutional revision. During the July Upper House election campaign, he avoided making constitutional revision a campaign issue. However, soon after the election, he indicated his intention to use his “political skills” to build a two-thirds parliamentary consensus around the Liberal Democratic Party’s draft constitution. The core of PM Abe’s constitutional revision is to replace Clause 2 of Article 9 with one declaring the creation of the national defense force and allowing the unconditional and unlimited use of armed force abroad.
The JCP sincerely calls for all peace-loving people to unite regardless of differences in thoughts, beliefs, and political stances in order to block the PM’s attempt at constitutional change as well as to protect and promote the pacifism envisioned by the Constitution.
Based on the war laws, Self-Defense Forces dispatched to South Sudan will be assigned new duties and allowed to use weapons for broader purposes. However, in July in South Sudan’s capital Juba, fierce fighting broke out between forces loyal to the president and vice-president, and several bullet holes were reportedly found at the SDF camp there. This underlines the possibility that SDF troops in South Sudan may end up killing and being killed. Let’s work to increase the public movement seeking to abolish the war legislation before it is fully implemented.
The SDF has never used armed force against other countries and no SDF members have been killed in wars. On the 71st anniversary of the war’s end, the JCP is determined to work hard together with the general public to pass on Japan’s post-war pacifist reputation to the next generation and hamper any attempt to open the path to become a war-fighting nation.
Past related articles:
> Gov’t should not expose SDF troops in South Sudan to risk of ‘killing and being killed’ [July 12, 2016]
> More than 500 citizens sue gov’t over war laws [April 27, 2016]
> Expansion of SDF duties with PKO will raise risk of ‘killing’ and being ‘killed’’ [February 5, 2016]
On the 71st anniversary of the end of WWII, the JCP expresses its deep condolences to domestic and foreign victims of the war of aggression and colonial rule caused by Japanese militarism. The JCP also renews its resolve to work hard to protect Article 9 of the Constitution which the Japanese people established after experiencing the ravages and tragedies of war and to build a peaceful Japan which makes full use of the Constitution.
The Abe government has been rushing toward undermining Japan’s pacifism, the very foundation of the Constitution. With the Cabinet decision to enable Japan’s exercise of the collective self-defense right and the forcible enactment of the national security legislation (war legislation), Japan is on track to become a nation that engages in wars abroad. In addition, Prime Minister Abe has become obsessed with constitutional revision. During the July Upper House election campaign, he avoided making constitutional revision a campaign issue. However, soon after the election, he indicated his intention to use his “political skills” to build a two-thirds parliamentary consensus around the Liberal Democratic Party’s draft constitution. The core of PM Abe’s constitutional revision is to replace Clause 2 of Article 9 with one declaring the creation of the national defense force and allowing the unconditional and unlimited use of armed force abroad.
The JCP sincerely calls for all peace-loving people to unite regardless of differences in thoughts, beliefs, and political stances in order to block the PM’s attempt at constitutional change as well as to protect and promote the pacifism envisioned by the Constitution.
Based on the war laws, Self-Defense Forces dispatched to South Sudan will be assigned new duties and allowed to use weapons for broader purposes. However, in July in South Sudan’s capital Juba, fierce fighting broke out between forces loyal to the president and vice-president, and several bullet holes were reportedly found at the SDF camp there. This underlines the possibility that SDF troops in South Sudan may end up killing and being killed. Let’s work to increase the public movement seeking to abolish the war legislation before it is fully implemented.
The SDF has never used armed force against other countries and no SDF members have been killed in wars. On the 71st anniversary of the war’s end, the JCP is determined to work hard together with the general public to pass on Japan’s post-war pacifist reputation to the next generation and hamper any attempt to open the path to become a war-fighting nation.
Past related articles:
> Gov’t should not expose SDF troops in South Sudan to risk of ‘killing and being killed’ [July 12, 2016]
> More than 500 citizens sue gov’t over war laws [April 27, 2016]
> Expansion of SDF duties with PKO will raise risk of ‘killing’ and being ‘killed’’ [February 5, 2016]
