Japan Press Weekly

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2019 October 22 - 29 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Shii speaks to opposition party executives on Senkaku territorial issue

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo, invited by Diet affair chief of the largest opposition party Azumi Jun, attended a meeting of opposition parties' executives held on October 24 in the Diet building and presented the JCP view on the issue of the disputed islands of Senkaku.

This was the first time for Shii to be invited as a main speaker of a meeting of an opposition party alliance composed mainly of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People.

At the meeting, along with CDPJ Azumi, Haraguchi Kazuhiro (Diet affair chief of the Democratic Party for the People), Hirota Hajime (Diet affair chief of a Lower House parliamentary group), and Lower House lawmaker Nakamura Kishiro (an independent forum) were present.

Shii, at the outset of his speech, presented Japan Coast Guard's documentation on the East China Sea and said, "Chinese government vessels often enter waters around the water area of the Senkaku Islands, but Prime Minister Abe has never lodged an official protest against this action."

He said that when he had a talk with Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyo the other day, he told the ambassador that whatever excuse the Chinese government makes, unilaterally changing the status quo in which another country effectively has control is a violation of the UN Charter which calls for peaceful solution to conflicts. Shii said that the JCP protested to the Chinese side and demanded the rectification of China's improper conduct.

Using historical resources, Shii explained in detail that Japan's claim to the Senkaku Islands is valid from the standpoint of international law as well as from a historical perspective.

Shii said that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has long left the Senkaku issue on the shelf and continued to insist that "no territorial dispute exists between the two countries" since the LDP government restored diplomatic relations with China and signed the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Shii added that for this reason, the LDP can neither have a say nor make a counterargument against China, falling into a trap set by itself.

Shii stressed, "It is necessary for Japan to diplomatically negotiate with China in order to clearly claim Japan's sovereignty over the islands."

Past related article:
> JCP urges gov’t to settle Senkaku dispute through diplomacy [September 21, 2012]
> Kasai: Gov’t must insist internationally on Japan’s sovereignty over Senkaku Islands [October 1, 2010]
> How to solve the issue of the Senkaku Islands: Japan justifiably claims sovereignty [September 20, 2010]