Japan Press Weekly

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2014 April 2 - 8 [POLITICS]

Refrain from expanding Japan’s ODA to recipients’ military-related projects: JCP Kasai

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Kasai Akira on April 4 urged the government to not expand Japan’s official assistance to receiving countries’ military-related development projects.

At a House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting JCP representative Kasai took up the Foreign Ministry’s plan to revise the nation’s long-term strategy on official development assistance for developing countries, the ODA Charter, for the first time in 11 years.

The current Charter in its principles stipulates that in line with the spirit of the Japanese Constitution, “any use of ODA for military purposes or for aggravation of international conflicts should be avoided.”

In response to the JCP representative, Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio said that the ministry has no intention to change the principle. Meanwhile, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Kihara Seiji admitted to a plan to examine the possibility of expanding the use of ODA to military-related projects in recipient countries.

Kasai demanded that the government refrain from utilizing ODA to support recipient nations’ military development because such an act tramples on the Constitution and damages international trust in Japan.