JCP issues statement commemorating 65th anniversary of WWII’s end

Japan Press Weekly

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JCP issues statement commemorating 65th anniversary of WWII’s end

On August 15 marking the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi issued a following statement:

On the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II, the JCP expresses its heartfelt condolences for all who died during the Japanese war of aggression and the Japanese colonial rule, and offers its deepest sympathy to their families and relatives.

This year marks the centennial anniversary of the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. The treaty was illegal and unjust because at that time Japan forced Korea to sign the treaty by using the threat of force. Under this treaty, Japan denied the existence of Korea as a “nation” and carried out cruel colonial policies in which Japan took away Koreans’ rights to culture, language, and even names. For Japan and Korea, to share this event as a historical fact is the present urgent task. The JCP will make its utmost effort to block any moves to romanticize and justify the Japanese war of aggression and Japanese colonial rule.

Recently, in the international community, the move to break away from military alliances and to eliminate war and the use of force from the earth using the wisdom and cooperation of mankind has become a major force. The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) which aims to establish a regional community prohibiting the use of force and calls for the peaceful resolution of conflicts, has been signed by 54 nations covering areas in which 70 percent of the global population is living. These moves show an increasing possibility that peoples of the world can share the meaning of permanent peace as illustrated in Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which is the starting point of postwar Japan.

The move towards a “world without nuclear weapons” is also increasing more than ever before. This year’s World Conference against A & H Bombs, which was held in August marking the 65th anniversaries of atomic bombings, adopted a “letter” calling on governments of all nations to immediately start negotiations for a nuclear weapons elimination treaty and to get out from under the “nuclear umbrella” which is “security by nuclear weapons”.

On the occasion of the 65th anniversary of WWII’s end, the JCP will put particular emphasis on the effort to establish an international and Asian peace order based on the United Nation Charter and the effort to achieve a “nuclear weapons-free world.” Through these efforts, the JCP will use our wisdom and increase our efforts to promote a peaceful diplomacy that utilizes Article 9 of the Constitution in order to establish a peaceful environment in Northeast Asia.

- Akahata, August 15, 2010