Shii attends Vietnamese New Year reception

   Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on February 6 attended a reception hosted by the Embassy of Vietnam in Tokyo in celebration of the Vietnamese New Year (Tet) and gave a congratulatory speech.

   Shii congratulated the successful development of the Vietnamese undertakings based on its Doi Moi policy in which the economic growth of 8.5 percent, a record high in the past 10 years, was achieved in 2007.

   Shii also congratulated Vietnam for its recent election to the post of non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council for the first time and expressed his hope that Vietnam, a country that had long fought against wars of aggression, will contribute to world peace in the United Nations.

   He welcomed the new Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Phu Binh and said, “I hope that you work for further development of relations between Japan and Vietnam as well as for peace in Asia.”

   The ambassador thanked Shii for his participation in the reception and expressed his gratitude to the JCP for its consistent support for the national liberation struggle of the Vietnamese people from before the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Vietnam.
- Akahata, February 7, 2008