September 29, 2016

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on September 28 at the House of Representatives plenary session used his interpellation time to grill Prime Minister Abe Shinzo about the construction of U.S. military facilities in Okinawa, the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons development, the unconstitutional national security legislation, and other issues.

Okinawa base issue

Shii first criticized the Abe government’s excessively high-handed manner of addressing the issue of U.S bases in Okinawa, and said, “This is a challenge to the fundamental existence of Japan’s local autonomy and democracy.”

Regarding the construction of U.S. Osprey helipads in the Takae district in Higashi Village, Shii said, “The Abe government assembled 500 riot police officers from across Japan in the Takae community which has a population of only 140 to remove local protesters by force to commence with construction work.” Shii pointed out that the police have been forcibly blocking Takae’s community road; that Self-Defense Forces’ helicopters transported heavy construction vehicles to the helipad construction site; and that the Okinawa Defense Bureau cut down trees in a national park without authorization. The JCP chair condemned Prime Minister Abe for allowing these acts to proceed.

PM Abe said that he found no illegality in the police activities and the use of SDF helicopters for carrying construction vehicles. Concerning the cutting of trees, the PM said, “I received a report admitting to a minor procedural error, but this was not an illegal act.”

Criticizing the unilateral filing of a lawsuit over the Henoko base issue by the state authorities, Shii said “This represents the government’s stance which tramples on the Local Autonomy Act which stipulates that relations between the central government and local governments should be equal and cooperative.”

In Okinawa, candidates representing the all-Okinawa movement against the Henoko base construction won in the latest two national elections and as a result, there is no Okinawa-elected Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker in the Diet. In the July Upper House election, all-Okinawa candidate Iha Yoichi defeated the then sitting Abe Cabinet minister by a margin of more than 100,000 votes.

Shii stressed, “The Abe government has refused to accept Okinawans’ clear will. Such a stance is unacceptable in a democracy.”

In response, the prime minister turned his back on the Okinawan voters’ verdict and said, “I don’t think what the government’s doing in Okinawa goes against democracy.”

North Korean N-testing and N-weapons issues

Regarding the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile development programs, Shii said, “Its nuclear weapons program poses a major threat to world peace and stability in violation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The JCP severely criticizes such an outrageous act.”

He pointed out the importance of resolving the North Korean issue through dialogue and that the international community should take concrete action to achieve a “world without nuclear weapons”.

The UN Open-ended Working Group on nuclear disarmament in August adopted a statement recommending the UN General Assembly to commence negotiations leading to a conclusion of a Nuclear Weapons Convention next year. However, the Japanese government at that time abstained from voting on the statement.

Referring to this fact, Shii said, “It was a shameful act as the only atomic-bombed country in the world. The JCP strongly demands that the government of Japan change its present attitude.”

War laws

The Abe government is seeking to fully implement the national security legislation (the war legislation), as PM Abe on September 12 said, “Now is the time to take action.”

However, Abe did not say a word about the war legislation in his policy speech on September 26. Citing this fact, Shii asked Abe, “Are you going to forcibly implement the war legislation without obtaining consent from the general public?”

In response, Abe asserted, “The ruling bloc won in the July Upper House election. We obtained approval from the public,” while turning a blind eye to the fact that in the election campaign he avoided talking about the war legislation with the aim to prevent it from becoming an election issue. He refused to face up to Jiji Press opinion poll results (in August) where about 80% of the respondents said that they don’t think that the general public has a good understanding of the war laws.

In South Sudan where SDF units will be sent with new duties based on the war legislation, a major battle broke out in the capital city of Juba in July. The UN Security Council in August decided to dispatch to the country an additional 4,000 UN peace keepers, who are, however, effectively “troops” having the right to carry out preemptive attacks.

Shii pointed out that the five preconditions for Japan’s participation in PKOs, including the cease-fire agreement between parties, are no longer met in South Sudan. If the SDF units are assigned new duties and allowed to use arms in South Sudan, they will likely see an SDF member “killing or being killed” in overseas missions for the first time ever, the JCP chair said.

When PM Abe replied, “I don’t see the current situation in South Sudan as a military conflict. The five PKO conditions are sufficiently met,” gasps of surprise echoed through the chamber.

Shutting his eyes to the real risk that awaits SDF troops, Abe irritatedly said that Shii’s notion about “killing and being killed” is overly dramatic. Shii demanded that the government stop implementing the war legislation and withdraw the SDF from South Sudan. He added that Japan should make its contribution to stability in that nation by drastically increasing humanitarian aid and civilian support activities based on Article 9.