Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2015 October 14 - 20 [JCP]

This week’s JCP international activities

Ogata attends ICAPP meeting - ‘One Belt, One Road’

Japanese Communist Party Vice Chair Ogata Yasuo attended a special conference of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) held under the theme of “One Belt, One Road (Silk road economic zone)” in Beijing, China from October 14 to October 16.

Delegates representing more than 60 political parties from more than 30 nations took part in the three-day conference. From Japan, in addition to the JCP, the Democratic, Komei, and Social Democratic parties participated in the meeting.

On the opening day of the ICAPP conference, Communist Party of China Politburo Standing Committee member Liu Yunshan in his speech said that the CPC will strengthen cooperation with political parties in Silk road nations and actively promote its “One Belt, One Road” initiative.

On the second day of the meeting, Ogata gave an address titled, “’The Belt and Road Project’ and Regional Cooperation”.

Describing the “One Belt, One Road” project as a joint development plan covering a huge area across nations, Ogata said, “We hope the Belt and Road Project will contribute to enhancing mutual interest and mutual trust among all relevant nations and to advancing a fair and democratic international economic and political order.”

Ogata noted that China’s ambitious project geographically covers areas where territorial disputes exist and also covers important sea lanes for many countries. He said that it is necessary to take a “very careful approach in order not to complicate existing disputes and problems in proceeding with the project”.

He added that major powers are required to “fully understand their partners’ positions and sentiments” and that it should “behave keeping in mind that smaller nations might have some difficulty in expressing their concerns directly even when the principle of equal footing and mutual benefit has been agreed upon”.

Ogata went on to say that he believes that China, which envisages itself as a 21st-century major power, has distinctive features that distinguish it from other major powers which rose in the 19th or 20th centuries as a result of competition for dominance among imperialist nations.

Ogata cited the fact that now is the era of the G-193 where smaller countries have become more important players, that China as a leading country in Asia and Africa has actively engaged in promoting important principles of the modern international politics such as self-determination of peoples or protecting national sovereignty embodied in the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence or the Ten Principles of Bandung, and that while other past major powers have been imperialistic powers, China espouses socialism.

Ogata concluded his remark by expressing his hope that the Belt and Road Project will be successful with China gaining trust and respect globally.

On this day after the session, Ogata joined in talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and representatives of Asian political parties. Ogata also had a conversation with Liu Hongcai, deputy head of the CPC CC International Liaison Department, about current political situations in their countries, their parties’ activities, and bilateral relations.

Ogata attends 6th World Socialism Forum

Japanese Communist Party Vice Chair Ogata Yasuo on October 16 and 17 attended the 6th World Socialism Forum in Beijing, China.

This annual forum was attended by 47 people, including political party members and researchers, from 18 countries as well as about 150 host nation people.

Ogata in his report titled “Paying High Regard to Specificity and Internal Logic of Social Development” said that different nations have different courses and different tempos in their social development and that it is unacceptable for external forces to sabotage and manipulate one nation’s inherently unique path of social development.

Ogata pointed out that the War in Iraq led by the U.S. under the rhetoric of “Democratization of the Middle East” has led to a global spread of terrorism and the creation of the later rise of an extreme Muslim group known as the IS. He said, “We must bear in mind that externally imposing notions of ‘happiness’ or culturally specific values could hamper a nation’s unique form and pace of development and even undermine international relations.”

Ogata stressed that strict compliance with the principles and rules that are intended to govern the modern international community is vitally important in order to advance the international relations of the 21st century in a direction that can promote peace and justice.

Referring to the 1993 Vienna Declaration which states that all governments, regardless of social regime, have a universally shared responsibility to promote and protect fundamental human rights and to bring about happiness among their respective peoples, Ogata said that each nation exerts its own national sovereign power according to its unique conditions while protecting fundamental human rights and that deepening mutual dialogue should be the world norm.