Fuwa talks with CPV research team on shared topics

Japan Press Weekly

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Fuwa talks with CPV research team on shared topics

Fuwa Tetsuzo, director of the Japanese Communist Party Social Sciences Institute, on January 26 met the Communist Party of Vietnam delegation headed by Hoang Chi Bao, secretary of the Central Theory Council of the CPV Central Executive Committee, at the JCP head office.

Answering questions that the Vietnamese delegation had submitted beforehand, Fuwa explained the features of the JCP 25th Congress, the 2004 revised JCP Program, the present global economic crisis, and the JCP assessment of socialistic development in Vietnam. The details follow:

JCP Congress displayed the valuable role of Party Program

Fuwa first stated that the JCP Program clarifies that by breaking free from the aberrant features of Japanese capitalism, there exists a bright future for social progress and explained that people are now exploring new directions possible after the Liberal Democratic Party was ousted from power in the August general election and that the JCP Congress recognized this as “transitional situation.” While all other parties are in a state of disarray, the JCP is leading people’s explorations of a new political process based on its Program. He stated, “The 25th Congress proved the worth of the Program.”

He gave an outline of theoretical developments of the JCP in chronological order starting from the 1961 Program to the revised Program of 2004 and explained the following points the Program newly summarizes: the course towards a Japanese revolution; the way of seeing the world situation as a stage in the development of global capitalism; and issues of socialism.

Historical assessment of the Soviet Union is indispensable

Assessing socialism, Fuwa took up the problem of the Soviet Union, saying, “Assessment of the collapsed Soviet Union is not an issue of the past but a task indispensable for the developing socialist movement today.”

Recalling the history of JCP-CPV relations, he said that the bilateral talks in 1966 were the first opportunity for the two parties to confirm their position of sovereign independence allowing no interference by any big powers based on each other’s experiences. This was how the two parties established their relations. He explained key points in a historical assessment of the Soviet Union, which the JCP has reached since then and incorporated into the Party Program. Fuwa emphasized that the collapse of the Soviet Union paved the way for new possibilities to develop the socialist movement.

Fuwa then explained the need for a theoretical understanding of the question of the “transitional period to socialism”. The JCP reviewed the traditional two-stage vision of future society, “from socialism to communism”, and established the new Party Program based on Marx’s original theoretical premises.

On the present world economic crisis, the JCP regards it as a combination of a financial crisis and overproduction crisis, with the latter being the root cause. The process of the present economic crisis proves the correctness of Marx’s crisis theory, Fuwa added.

Fuwa also presented his views on capitalism in the United States, the origin of the present crisis, and the neo-liberalist policy which the U.S. imposed on the world.

On the development of socialism in Vietnam

Fuwa then spoke about Vietnamese socialist development with a preliminary remark, saying, “I am speaking as an outsider, fairly far from Vietnam. However, I would be happy if you find my assessment useful.”

The road of “socialism through a market economy” involves the following tasks:

a) To consider that the economy includes both the capitalistic aspect and the socialistic aspect, and to seek a strategy to develop the socialistic aspect as the backbone while developing the economy as a whole.

b) Any difficulty can be mastered by a strong public aspiration for socialism; even for the ruling party it is necessary to make constant efforts to have the backing of the majority of the population. This is the new task for the post-revolution generations to continue the socialist and revolutionary spirit.

Bao accepted Fuwa’s remarks and said, “The Communist Party of Vietnam is discussing how to develop and supplement the Program at the 11th Congress to be held next year. There is a degree of objectivity in the opinions of our comrades in the JCP who are carrying out activities in a capitalist country, and your opinions are useful to us.”

- Akahata, January 27, 2010