December 24, 2021

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

When the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was dissolved in August 1991, the Japanese Communist Party in its statement welcomed it as an end to a "colossal historical evil". At a time of the collapse of the Soviet Union on December 25 of that year, the JCP pointed out that the biggest root of this event lay in the Gorbachev-led leadership’s stance of being unaware of and unrepentant about negative effects associated with Soviet hegemony since the Stalin era. The Soviet Union, a regime incompatible with socialism, ceased to exist. However, a fight against hegemonism and absolutism is still a major challenge for the international community.

The Soviet Union at its early stage implemented various progressive policies in its pursuit of socialism. However, since the Stalin period, the Soviet Union repeatedly invaded other countries as shown in the annexation of Baltic States (1940), the lawless occupation of Japan’s Chishima, Habomai, and Shikotan islands (1945), and the invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968) and Afghanistan (1979). Linked to its hegemonic acts, the USSR ruled the general public with a rod of iron and trampled not only on people’s freedom and human rights but also on democracy.

These mistakes were made by the Soviet Union while calling itself a “socialist regime”, and brought about serious adverse impacts on international movements seeking peace and social progress.

The Japanese Communist Party in the 1950s experienced divisions in the party due to Soviet interference in its internal affairs. On the process of reunifying the party, the JCP established its position of being self-reliant and independent from foreign interference and acts of hegemonism. In response, the former Soviet Union in the 1960s began interfering in the internal affairs of the JCP on an even larger scale. The JCP worked hard to overcome this crisis and strongly criticized the Soviet Union for its invasion of Czechoslovakia as well as for other hegemonic acts.

The JCP pointed out that the Soviet style of Marxism-Leninism justifying hegemonism and despotism had nothing to do with socialism. The party at the same time made clear that true socialism will respect democracy and fundamental human rights and will promote social progress for the purpose of guaranteeing free and full development of all people. The principles of true socialism are explored in the present JCP Program as follows:

The freedom of various ideologies and beliefs as well as political activities, including those by opposition parties, will be rigorously protected; [t]he error committed by the former Soviet Union in imposing bureaucratism that oppressed producers under false pretenses of "nationalization" and "collectivization" must not be repeated; and [a] socialist/communist Japan will inherit and further develop all valuable gains of the capitalist era, including those of democracy and freedom.

On the one hand, the United States, China, and Russia are now aligned in their opposition to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), but on the other hand, they are intensifying their power game and creating regional and global tensions. Hegemonism and big-power chauvinism have no future.

As shown in the TPNW and in the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia (previously part of the former Soviet Union), today's world is not ruled by major powers. A new chapter in the history of humanity is being opened with the potential of participation of all countries, big and small, on an equal footing in international relations. The JCP is determined to continue dedicating its best efforts to further promote this tide of hope for the future.