Japan Press Weekly

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2019 October 2 - 8 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Shii criticizes PM Abe’s historical view regarding international covenants on human rights

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on October 4 at a press conference commented on Prime Minister Abe’s policy speech given at the 200th extraordinary Diet session which was convened on this day and criticized PM Abe for his impudence in distorting history.

What Shii criticized was PM Abe’s remark that Japan’s proposal for the elimination of racial discrimination, which was made at the Paris Peace Conference after WWI, bore fruit in the post-WWII period with the introduction of the international covenants on human rights.

PM Abe in his policy speech said that at an international meeting after WWI, the Japanese government proposed racial equality as an “ideal principle of the postwar international order”. Abe said that at that time when European colonies expanded throughout the globe, Japan, despite fierce opposition from other nations, continued to call for racial equality. He boasted that after WWII, Japan’s call was embodied in the international covenants on human rights and other fundamental advances in regard to human rights in the international community.

Shii pointed out that PM Abe portrayed prewar Japan as if it opposed colonialism, and said, “When looking at the history, the Empire of Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula and began its war of aggression against China. This is an undisputable fact. PM Abe, however, in his remarks intends to wipe the slate clean by claiming that Japan respected racial equality.”

Shii explained that the international treaties on human rights consist of two treaties: the treaty on civil and political rights and the treaty on economic, social, and cultural rights. Stating that both the two treaties in their Article 1 guarantee the right to national self-determination, Shii pointed out, “It was the Japanese empire that infringed on this right and carried out colonization and wars of aggression in the Asia-Pacific region. Nevertheless, PM Abe argued that prewar Japan’s effort to promote racial equality influenced the establishment of the two international covenants whose most important feature is the right to national self-determination.” He added, “Abe’s argument indicates that the PM Abe-led government is shamefully and willfully ignorant of world history while arrogantly taking a stance to show no sign of remorse for the nation’s past history.”