Shii lectures on JCP position on international issues

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo gave a lecture entitled "The Present-day World and the JCP" on May 30 at the Japan Critics Association's regular assembly in Tokyo .

This is Shii's second lecture to the association, the first in February 2000 when he was the JCP secretariat head.

His lecture this time focused on the Iraq war, perspectives for world peace, and the North Korea question.

He said that the Iraq war has raised a major question: what the world should be like in the 21st century. He gave a detailed analysis of the forces for peace which wield influence on international politics in trying to stop a U.S. war on Iraq. He said this experience was so significant that these peace efforts will not be pushed back easily, although there may be some zigzags in future developments.

Shii said that he is interested in the recent remarks by the leaders of France, Russia, and China, the countries which were initially opposed to the Iraq war. Their remarks called for the world in the 21st century to be a equitable world with diversity governed by international law instead of being ruled by the single superpower.

Stressing that the world in the 21st century will not allow the United States the freedom to act arbitrarily, Shii spoke about the opposition party diplomacy he experienced.

On the North Korea question, Shii insisted that North Korea must give up its nuclear weapons development program, reliance on the "physical deterrence" doctrine, and join the international community. He said that this is part of the foreign policy which the JCP Executive Committee proposed to the JCP Central Committee 6th Plenum. Shii said that the JCP will do everything possible to establish peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

After the lecture, Shii answered some questions from the participants concerning domestic politics. (end)