December 18, 2025

Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chair Tamura Tomoko on December 17 addressed a general assembly of the JCP Dietmembers, following the closing of the 219th extraordinary Diet session.

Regarding the bill to reduce the number of House of Representatives seats, which was submitted by the Liberal Democratic Party and the “Nippon Ishin no Kai” party, Tamura stated, “The voices and movements of people opposing the reduction in the number of Diet seats have defeated the bill’s passage within the extraordinary Diet session.” She called on all JCP lawmakers to collaborate with a broad spectrum of individuals and groups to force the LDP-Ishin coalition to abandon its attempt to pass the bill in the ordinary session staring in January 2026.

The JCP chair described Prime Minister Takaichi’s statement that “a Taiwan contingency would threaten Japan’s survival” as an extremely dangerous infringement of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution. She once again demanded that PM Takaichi retract this aggressive statement.

Tamura said that on this issue, the JCP is urging the Takaichi government to strictly adhere to the important agreements Japan made with China since the normalization of Japan-China diplomatic relations in 1972, and to rebuild friendly relations with China. She added that in the meantime, the party has requested that the Chinese government refrain from carrying out provocative rhetoric and actions.

Tamura criticized the present government for seeking to gain public support by fanning xenophobia and manipulating public opinion regarding certain countries as if they were enemies. She told the JCP Dietmembers to demonstrate the party’s commitment to advocating for peace through diplomacy and to opposing the government’s policy of expanding the country’s military capabilities.

Tamura stated that it is meaningful that the JCP in October and November confirmed continued cooperation with the Social Democratic Party, the New Socialist Party of Japan, and the Okinawa Whirlwind in order to oppose the planned military buildup and to defend the country’s pacifist Constitution.