April 3, 2024

Japanese Communist Party Central Committee Chair Shii Kazuo on April 2 held talks with visiting Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Secretariat permanent member Truong Thi Mai, who heads the Organization Commission of the CPV Central Committee, at the JCP head office in Tokyo.

Shii referred to the talks he had with Mai and General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong in December last year in Vietnam. He stressed that it was significant for the two parties to affirm that they will strengthen cooperation to realize the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) in collaboration with ASEAN as well as to build peace in East Asia. He said, “In the adoption of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, civil society played a considerable role. Based on this experience, I’d like to develop grassroots movements for peacebuilding in East Asia. I hope to promote bilateral cooperation to achieve this.”

Stating that people’s diplomacy and grassroots activities are major pillars in Vietnam’s foreign policy, Mai gave a favorable response to Shii’s proposal. She expressed her hope that the two parties’ cooperative efforts will positively contribute to regional and global cooperation for peace and development.

Shii told the CPV senior official that making the best use of the outcome of his visit to Southeast Asia last December, the JCP in its 29th Party Congress refined and further developed its world view and diplomatic vision. Mai congratulated Shii on the success of the JCP 29th Congress.

Shii mentioned that the year 2026 will mark 40 years of Vietnam’s Doi Moi policy. Mai stressed that the Vietnamese government focuses on improving the economy qualitatively under the Doi Moi policy. She explained that the poverty rate in Vietnam steadily declined to around 2% in 2023 from 58% in 1993 and that the nation, in an effort to address climate change, pursues the realization of a sustainable economy and society.

Shii and Mai agreed to further develop the JCP-CPV relation based on friendship and cooperation through theoretical exchanges, close communications, collaborative work in international forums, and other avenues and occasions. Mai stated that the JCP in the Diet has worked to protect the labor and human rights of Vietnamese workers, including those working under Japan’s foreign trainee program, and expressed her gratitude to Shii.

The two exchanged views on the potential for conflict in the South and East China Seas and shared the recognition that it is important to handle the problems based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and international law.

Those who participated in the talks included JCP Vice Chair Ogata Yasuo, JCP Policy Commission Chair Yamazoe Taku and Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu.