JCP

On the results of the recent U.S. presidential election

SHII Kazuo

Chair, Japanese Communist Party

Member of the House of Representatives of Japan

Tokyo

November 12, 2020

 

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo issued a statement on the results of the recent U.S. presidential election at a press conference on November 12. The full text of his statement is as follows:

(1)

Regarding the results of the recent U.S. presidential election, JCP Chair Shii’s comments were already issued on November 8. With the situation in which former Vice President Joe Biden is projected to be the next president of the U.S., the JCP expresses its views on the results.

(2)

Incumbent President Donald Trump was elected four years ago for criticizing the serious problems facing American society, such as the growing divide between the rich and poor, an economy that prioritizes the profits of transnational corporations, and wars abroad involving the U.S.. However, during his tenure, the problems were far from being resolved, and in addition to the increase in serious social divisions such as discrimination against racial minorities and immigrants, his administration’s chaotic response to as well as its mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic finally delivered a rejection of his policies.

Throughout the electoral campaigns, a vast number of various communities sprang to life as part of a greater grassroots resistance against the Trumpist policies of division and conflicts. These included the young, women, and minorities, and spanned across all backgrounds including White, Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous communities. It is undeniable that this coalition of communities affected the campaigns, and led the nation to the election results we witnessed.

(3)

The Biden administration will need to overcome the “America First” policy of the Trump administration that turned its back on international cooperation. We will pay close attention to the policies Mr. Biden will propose in regard to the Paris Agreement for climate change countermeasures that the U.S. has unilaterally withdrawn from as well as the pandemic measures through the World Health Organization (WHO) that the U.S. has announced its withdrawal from.

The Democratic Party, which will be the ruling party behind the Biden administration, has promised a policy direction that intents to address some of the negative affects of neoliberal policies as the party’s platform as a response to the growth of social movements, including fair taxation on wealthy people and large corporations, a raise of the federal minimum wage to 15 dollars per hour, an introduction of universal health care coverage for all Americans and free public higher education. The JCP will pay attention to its efforts to work to implement the party’s public pledges.

(4)

In regard to Japan-U.S. relations, Mr. Biden will likely ask Japan to bear a larger share of the financial burdens associated with the U.S. military presence in Japan, especially in Okinawa, under the pretense of “reinventing” the military alliance network centered on the U.S..

It is necessary for Japan to drastically revise its national security policy in order to put an end to Japan’s extraordinary subordination to the U.S. and to switch to a Japan-U.S. relation based on equality and friendship. The JCP is determined to further develop the struggle to achieve this. In particular, we take this opportunity to reiterate that we will work to prevent the construction of a new U.S. base in Okinawa and exert our fullest effort to achieve a peaceful Okinawa without U.S. military bases


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