December 2, 2025

Japanese Communist Party Central Committee Chair Shii Kazuo sent former British Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn a message on the occasion of the founding conference of a new left party which took place on November 29 and 30 in Liverpool, U.K. Corbyn is one of the new party’s founders. The full text of Shii’s message is as follows:

Message of Congratulations and Solidarity for the Founding of a New Left Party

Dear Mr. Corbyn,
On the occasion of the founding conference of your new left-wing party—launched through your dedicated efforts together with your comrades, appealing to the people of the United Kingdom and rapidly gaining many new members—I extend my heartfelt congratulations and warmest greetings of solidarity.
When we met in Tokyo and Hiroshima this past August, I listened with great excitement to your passionate call for the creation of a new party. I deeply resonate with your efforts to open a hopeful future for British politics by building a grassroots party that stands against neoliberalism and works for social transformation—including the redistribution of wealth and power, the eradication of child poverty, and the restoration of public ownership —as well as by opposing genocide and calling for a free and independent Palestine, and firmly rejecting the far right and xenophobia. I sincerely hope that your founding conference will meet the high expectations of the workers and people of the United Kingdom and achieve great success.
I am very pleased that during our meeting in Tokyo in August, we agreed to establish a relationship of friendship and solidarity between your new party and ours. At that time, I proposed strengthening our cooperation in four key areas: (1) advancing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the abolition of nuclear weapons; (2) preventing genocide in Palestine’s Gaza, and promoting peace based on the UN Charter, including a just settlement in Ukraine; (3) opposing the massive military build-ups in both the eastern and western parts of the Eurasian continent and creating peace through diplomacy; and (4) confronting xenophobia. At this historic crossroads—between war and peace—I strongly hope that our cooperation and solidarity will further develop so that we may advance the cause of peace and progress around the world.
We, too, in Japan are confronting head-on the dangers posed by the reactionary bloc, and we are calling for a new national and democratic coalition to protect and advance people’s livelihoods, peace, and democracy. While offering a forthright critique of entrenched conservative politics and presenting democratic alternatives, we are waging a resolute struggle against the far right and xenophobia. We are also working to broaden public understanding of the appeal of advancing to the next stage beyond capitalism—socialism. On the occasion of your founding conference, I once again express my sincere hope that exchanges and solidarity between your party and ours will further deepen, and I extend my congratulations and fraternal greetings.

November 29, 2025
SHII Kazuo
Chair, Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party