Japan Press Weekly

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2017 March 29 - April 4 [JCP]

Shii interviewed by agricultural cooperatives newspaper

The newspaper for agricultural cooperatives, Japan Agricultural Communications, on March 23 carried on its website an interview with Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo.

This interview is a part of the series regarding agricultural issues and agricultural cooperatives. The interviewer is Okayama University Graduate School Professor Komatsu Yasunobu, a columnist for the paper. At the end of 2016, Komatsu wrote the column titled “The ‘hidden’ Communist Manifesto”, attracting public attention.

Asked about what is the axis of confrontation in the world economy, Shii said that the point is whether to create an economic order which gives top priority to helping multinational companies make huge profits or to establish an equal and reciprocal rule to protect peoples’ livelihoods and each country’s economic sovereignty.

Referring to the possibility that the Trump administration will pressure Japan to expand its military role and make more economic concessions, Shii stressed that it should be called into question whether Japan will continue with its servile diplomacy toward the United States.

Shii explained the JCP plan to revitalize domestic agriculture which regards farming as a key industry and aims to increase the food self-sufficiency rate significantly. He added that the main purpose of the policy is to combine a farm price support system with an income compensation program for the sake of ensuring agricultural reproduction.

Noting that agricultural cooperatives serve a vital function in rural areas, Shii condemned the Abe administration for working to break up those organizations. “The need now is to advocate and implement the existence and extension of cooperatives,” he said.

In the concluding paragraphs of the article, Professor Komatsu expressed his impressions of the interview. He emphasized the necessity of creating cooperation between the JCP and agricultural cooperatives based on the JCP plan, saying, “The party’s agriculture revival plan is highly convincing to many of those concerned in the farming industry.”

Past related article:
> Shii calls for taking giant step to form coalition government of opposition parties [January 5, 2017]