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2014 December 3 - 9 [JCP]

JCP answers questions about its name and its difference from China and former Soviet Union

Akahata Sunday edition

The term “communist” gives many people a negative impression. Conversations about the Japanese Communist Party, especially when it comes to elections, often turn to an assertion that “JCP policies are good but the name is umm…” The Akahata Sunday edition published on December 7 gives clear answers to frequently asked questions:

Why doesn’t the JCP change its name?

The name embodies great historical significance. Many political parties change their names or alignments while receiving government subsidies distributed to political parties.

The name of political parties is not just a name. It represents the party’s ideology and aims. The name JCP has a history of 92 years since the prewar era and embodies the ideals of a future society.

During the prewar and wartime period of despotic rule, JCP members opposed the war of aggression and called for peace and popular sovereignty, often at the cost of their lives. When the war ended, their demand became a fundamental principle of the Constitution which calls for “peace for all time” and proclaims that “sovereign power resides with people”.

In contrast, the Democratic Party (Minseito) and the Friends of Government Party (Seiyukai) - predecessors of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Socialist People’s Party (Shakai Minshuuto) - predecessor of the former Socialist Party all supported the war of aggression forcing young people to go to battlefields. These parties, as war collaborators, had to change their names after the war. The Socialist Party when joining the governing force in 1996 again changed its name to the Social Democratic Party.

What is the JCP cause then? The JCP first and foremost pursues democratic reforms within the framework of capitalism. The JCP is not hostile to large corporations per se. The party, however, requires their fair contribution to society according to their ability. Following the implementation of democratic reforms, the JCP will explore avenues to enable the creation of a new society which can overcome the major intrinsic contradictions of capitalism. The process of making changes, however, will take time because they will be implemented only through parliamentary decisions based on the demands of the majority of the general public.

The future society the JCP envisions has no exploitation and no repression. It is a people-oriented collaborative society composed of equal and free human relationships; in other words, a socialist/communist society.

What’s the JCP difference from China or the former Soviet Union?

The JCP sticks firmly to its support for sovereign independence and opposition to repression in any form. The former Soviet Union had nothing to do with socialism at all in this regard. It repeatedly launched invasions and repressed other ethnic groups.

The JCP criticized the former Soviet Union for its hegemonic rule and struggled against the Soviet interference seeking to control the JCP. When the Communist Party of the Soviet Union disbanded in 1991, the JCP published a statement welcoming the end of the party of colossal historical evil.

The JCP does not consider China to be a country that has achieved socialism. Present-day China, both politically and economically, has a lot of problems to be solved. The JCP candidly states what needs to be said to China in a reasonable and diplomatic manner when necessary.

In the 1960s, the JCP resisted the insistent interference from the Maoist faction of the Communist Party of China, and the party severed relations with the CPC. As the CPC later admitted to its misdeeds, JCP-CPC relations were normalized in 1998. At that time, in the talks between the two party leaders, JCP Chair Fuwa Tetsuzo said, “It is important to envisage a development into a political system that makes it a rule to respond to any critical remarks of the political system without banning such criticism.”

Regarding the territorial issue over the Senkaku Islands, JCP Chair Shii Kazuo in 2012 in talks with the Chinese Ambassador to Japan presented the JCP view that the Senkaku Isalands is part of Japan’s own territory. He also conveyed the JCP stance that it is important for both countries to refrain from turning to forceful measures and considering military responses, and to solve the issue through calm, diplomatic dialogue.

The JCP has been guarding the principle of sovereign independence and criticizing any nation which displays autocratic behavior.

For reference:
> PROGRAM OF THE JAPANESE COMMUNIST PARTY [Adopted on January 17, 2004 at the JCP 23rd Congress]
> Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy [Adopted on July 30, 1976 at the 13th Extraordinary Congress of the Japanese Communist Party. Revised on August 12, 1989 at the 6th CC Plenum of the 18th JCP Congress, and endorsed on July 13, 1990 at the 19th JCP Congress. Partially amended on July 13, 1996 at the 5th CC Plenum of the 20th JCP Congress]

Past related articles:
> JCP reaches 90th anniversary of its founding [July 19, 2012]
> Criticism of political system must be responded to through candid discourse [October 15, 2010]
> Why is the JCP so vigorous? [March 5, 2009]
> Fuwa points out sovereign independence has been key to JCP development [August 10, 2007]